


Peril

by SpookOrSpectre



Series: Enigma Project [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Horror, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookOrSpectre/pseuds/SpookOrSpectre
Summary: A lioness is almost killed in a construction accident, but the site manager reveals a much more serious problem than an injured worker. The officers set out to right the wrongs of Blakesly Construction and they quickly find themselves caught up in something far more sinister than a case of corruption. Who knew something so mundane could lead them on a journey so... perilous?
Series: Enigma Project [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1590415
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. An Accusation

**It's back again! The Enigma series continues. This story does not require that you have read the last two stories, but reading the last chapter of A Case of a Curse is recommended. This story is going to be METAL! It'll pick up quick, trust me. I decided in chapter 4 have a song recommendation with each chapter just for fun, and this song absolutely belongs here:**

**Musical selection for this chapter:**

**"Mr. Sinister"**

_**Return in Bloodred** _

**Powerwolf**

**In the meantime,** _**Enjoy!** _

* * *

_Discete aut disce! Quam ubi non accusator, ibi non iudex._

_Understand, lest you experience it, that where there is no accuser, there is no judge._

* * *

Judy sat, her carrot muffin right below her nose, held there by paws that weren't really under her mind's direction. She was completely blanked out, staring out the window with nothing to do but eat her muffin and drink coffee. Their patrol route had taken them to a hip part of town that was teaming with small businesses, and it was a nice break from their usual crime-ridden routes. The dreary day outside was less than inviting though, and it put a damper on what would have otherwise been a fun and relaxing patrol.

"Why can't it just be a nice day the one time we don't have to arrest anyone?" Nick asked as he looked outside, taking a bite of his blueberry donut.

"Beats me," Judy replied. The neighborhood was not exactly the underbelly of Zootopia, and they had wondered why Bogo gave it to them after assignments. They continued to mindlessly chew and sip until they were taken out of their thoughts by a beautiful skunk walking up to their table. The young female was dressed rather nicely, indicating she had probably come from a desk job somewhere.

"So sorry to bother you two on your break, but I just have to say that you guys have been a huge inspiration to me! I got accepted to the academy the other day and I've got nobody to thank more than you two!" She said, her paw over her heart. The two couldn't have smiled more.

"Aw! Thank you! Congratulations," Judy said.

"Yeah, congrats!" Nick followed.

"Thanks. I'm a little scared, but what is life without adventure, you know?"

"Oh don't worry, just do your best and keep your eyes on the ball, you'll do just fine," Judy said.

"If I made it through, you can too," Nick said, making the skunk chuckle.

"Thank you. I look forward to getting out and doing something for this city. I guess I'll get out of your guy's fur," she said, waving. The two gave a salute and said their goodbyes. Nick picked up his cup as she put her paw on the door, but he paused before drinking.

"Hey, before you go, don't be afraid to ask for help if you ever need it. It's gonna be tough, but you've got a lot of good mammals on your side," Nick said. She looked solemnly back, but quickly gave a polite smile and nodded.

"It's good that you said something," Judy said.

"Yeah, I'm glad I did. It's not an easy job."

"Definitely not. I'm praying that working with the Intelligence agency won't be much harder."

"Those prayers will fall on deaf ears, Carrots. I don't think there's anything easy about being an A3I agent."

"Well, maybe it won't exactly be easy, but at least it'll be interesting."

"Interesting is one way to put it," Nick said, looking out the window. A large crash then filled the air, and they felt the building shake. They looked at each other for a moment, wondering whether their opportunity to work with the agency was coming sooner than they expected. Their wondering stopped when they heard cries for help. They both stood up and rushed to the door, Nick throwing it open and stumbling out onto the sidewalk, Judy following behind.

They stood for a split second, looking around as light rainfall landed on their fur, hearing a male yelling. It was coming from around the corner of the building, and they sprinted towards it. The first thing they saw when they rounded the corner was a lioness pinned to the pavement, a metal pole from collapsed scaffolding over her chest. The rest of the scaffolding had fallen apart, but this section was intact and had its entire weight on her.

Two beavers were trying to help get the mass of metal off of her, but it wasn't working. She had one paw on the bar, and her other arm was clearly broken. She almost certainly couldn't breathe, and the two officers rushed to her, Judy going for the pipe.

"Pull her out once I have this thing up!" She yelled to Nick. He grabbed the female's vest and prepared to pull. The lioness was large enough to put the pole at just the right height for Judy. She got under the bar and pressed her back against it, gripping it with her paws; it was just like she was doing a squat. She took a breath and bared down, using all of her might to press against it. Her body trembled, the rain that had been accumulating on her fur forced to either soak in or run off as she shook.

It was a struggle, and her vision started going dark, but she didn't have the option of quitting. There was a life on the line. The entire structure soon started to lift, and Judy's nose bled from the internal pressure. She stood up and locked out her form, the metal bar on her back flexing and bouncing after the tremendous shove, each wobble testing her resolve.

Nick dragged the female out and knelt next to her. She was struggling to breathe and every time she tried to inhale she convulsed, her broken ribs causing her immense pain. Nick looked over as Judy set the scaffolding down, promptly fainting. He cursed to himself, now having two injured mammals on his paws, one of them his partner. The workers picked Judy up and brought her out from under the scaffolding.

"Lay her on her side, let her nose drain! I'm going to get a first aid kit. You!-" Nick said, pointing to a pig, "-Call 911!"

He ran to the cruiser and lifted the trunk, grabbing the large white first aid case, sprinting back to the scene. He set it on the ground next to the lioness and opened it, immediately taking out an autoinjector and getting a vial of morphine. He set it to the 300-pound mammal setting, which was the whole vial. He injected her with the narcotic and watched as slowly but surely she started breathing normally. She looked over at him with an odd expression on her muzzle.

"It's ok, you'll be alright," he reassured her, putting a paw on her healthy shoulder.

"I feel pretty alright, what did you give me?"

"Just of a bunch of morphine. Thanks for not being a drug addict, I didn't have any more," he said, making her smile slightly. If she was more tolerant she wouldn't have responded to the dose. He grabbed gauze from the first aid kit and stood to leave when the lioness looked down at her arm. She tried to lift it but her upper arm bent at a new joint. She started breathing heavily, whimpering, and Nick kneeled again.

"Hey, hey! Stop doing that, stop thinking about it, everything is going to be fine. Look at me, look at me," Nick said, trying to get her mind off of her arm. She turned to him, her ears back, terror in her eyes. "It's just a broken bone, you'll be ok, alright? I have to check on my partner, so just… be strong ok?" He said.

She nodded to him, the morphine she received also aiding in her ability to relax. Two beavers moved up next to the lioness and gave Nick a nod, telling him to go check on Judy. He stood up and walked over to her, sitting next to the now conscious rabbit. She had fainted but had come-to fairly soon after, luckily not getting much blood on herself.

"How you doin?" Nick said as he wiped some of the blood off of her muzzle with the gauze.

"I'm so tired... I feel like I got hit by a train," she said, her head moving with his wiping.

"You think you're ok?" He asked, stopping.

"I think so, just worn out… this is what happens when mammals do a crazy lift like that… I should be ok," she said, yawning. Seconds later an ambulance pulled up, a wolf and buffalo getting out and rushing to the lioness. The workers got out of their way as they put her on a stretcher, and once the lion was in the ambulance the wolf came to check on Judy.

"Head injury?" He asked Nick, inferring from the blood on her face and her demeanor.

"No… exertion," she said, smiling slightly, confusing the wolf.

"She lifted that," Nick said, pointing to the 2-story section of scaffolding. He looked over to it and looked back at the bunny in front of him.

"Holy shit!" He said to himself.

"My legs are jelly… my everything is jelly, for that matter… I can't even move," Judy said.

"Do you need medical help?" The wolf asked.

"No, just a serious nap…"

"I'd bet, my god! If you're ok we better go, stay safe you two," The paramedic said, standing up. He got back to the ambulance and it drove away.

"I want to talk to the site manager, should I just carry you to the cruiser?"

"Yeah, put me in the back so I can lie down," she replied. He picked her up, her weight surprising him. It figured that she'd be quite heavy given how strong she was, though her stature betrayed this truth. She didn't have the energy to wrap a paw around him, so she was completely dead weight in his arms. He cradled her and she fell asleep before he even made it to the cruiser. With one paw he opened the door and tried to gently set her down in the back.

"Huh…" she murmured, opening her eyes.

"I'm just setting you down in the cruiser," he said, to which she closed her eyes again, quickly falling asleep. He closed the door and locked the car, chuckling at the thought that if he forgot about her, she'd be completely stuck inside until the next day. Nick walked back over to the construction workers, who were all sitting on a concrete barrier.

"Can I speak to the site manager?" Nick asked the group. They all turned to a pig who quickly stood up.

"That would be me," he said, his voice shaky.

"May I have a word?" Nick asked.

"Yes, uh-of course," the pig said, gesturing for him to follow. He lead the way to the small on-site security booth and closed the door. It had a desk and office chair roughly his size, the pig being slightly shorter than Nick. "I hope I'm not being implicated for anything, I gotta tell you this was a freak accident," he said, clearly nervous.

"No sir, just want to follow proper procedure and make sure an incident report is filed," Nick said.

"Oh, ah- I see," he stuttered.

"I just have to ask a few questions," Nick said, taking out his note pad. The pig gulped and nodded. He was visibly shaking. "Do you have any reason to suspect this was intentional in any way?" He asked.

"No."

"Any ongoing issues with the employee involved in the accident?"

"No, Sarah was… she was a good, hard worker," he said, easing up as the questions continued.

"Was Sarah recently hired, disabled, a religious minority, et cetera, anything that would possibly make her stand out?"

"No, well… Sarah was one of our only female employees, but I've never heard a peep from anyone about that," the pig said, Nick taking note.

"Anything you'd like to say about the incident?"

"No."

"Well, I think that's about it. You're going to file an incident report?" Nick asked. He hesitated for a moment.

"Oh yes, of course, that's standard procedure," he said, his tone leaving Nick unconvinced.

"Can I provide some input? I was practically there when it happened," he offered.

"Oh, no I don't think that will be necessary," the pig said, raising a red flag.

"You will file that incident report, correct?" Nick asked. He shook his head for a moment.

"I… no, I can't! They'll hurt me, I can't! You gotta help me!"

"Alright, calm down sir, we'll help you. Who is going to hurt you?" Nick asked, persuading him to sit in the office chair.

"It's the company I work for, they're so evil… there are so many stories of them beating people for submitting reports, I think they've even killed mammals," he said.

"Have they ever threatened you?" Nick asked, kneeling next to him.

"Yeah, I guess… they told me, when I got manager, that I should be careful not to tarnish the company name… like, really careful…"

"So you think there's reason to believe they are beating and possibly even killing mammals?"

"Yes, you guys have to keep this quiet, they'll kill me! They hurt my family!" He said.

"If you are concerned about your safety, I can take you into the precinct and get you connected with witness protection, but we can't take your family yet, we'd need more time and paperwork. I will hand this over to the A3I, they are better equipped to deal with this sort of thing," Nick said.

"The A3I? Aren't they only for terrorists?"

"No, they do any surveillance, security, and investigation operations that take place within the jurisdiction of Zootopia. I think you know this, but they are very, very discrete, I think you'll be just fine."

"Ok… I definitely want to go home and see my family after a day like today, I'd have to sleep in a cell otherwise, right? Oh God, then what is my family going to do? It'll be suspicious if I'm in the precinct… I better go home."

"Yeah, go home and relax with your family, we'll make sure the rest is handled," Nick said, taking out his phone to text Tanya. The pig nodded. "What's your name quick? In case the A3I needs you."

"Peter Hoofacre," he said, sending the name to Tanya.

"Ok Mr. Hoofacre, the agency has been informed and we will be on the lookout for any suspicious activity from Blakesley Construction. Go home and see your family Peter, you deserve a break," Nick said.

"Thank you," Peter said, standing to leave with Nick. The pig joined the construction workers again while Nick walked back to the cruiser, getting into the driver's seat. He looked to the back, finding Judy exactly where he left her. All he could think of was the headlines once word got out that Judy lifted a thousand-pound collapsed section of scaffolding.

_Superbunny_

* * *

**I do not own Zootopia or any of its character's. Can I put this at the end? I don't know, I don't care either; if Disney prosecutes me for this I'll... well, I'll be very upset! Don't make me tell on you, Disney!**

**Also, the Latin quote at the beginning of this chapter is from the song "The Deceit" by Fleshgod Apocalypse. The band, specifically their album _agony_ , was a big inspiration for this story.**

**Please review! Even if it's just a word or two, it means a lot.**


	2. Attempting Arrest

**Ha! Three days! This story is fun to write! There is going to be some icky stuff at the end of this chapter (blood and vomit, YAY!) Nothing horrific really, I'm trying to keep this story T so unless you are really quite sensitive I wouldn't worry about it. No song, this chapter is a little all over the place!**

**_Enjoy!_ **

* * *

_draco dormiens nunquam titillandus, vis est notissima._

_a sleeping dragon is never to be tickled, the result is well known._

* * *

Judy opened her eyes, her usual wake up time having come after a fifteen-hour nap. She sat up and her body was wracked with pain, like she was on fire. She was used to being sore after a workout, but this was intense, and she wondered if she could ask Bogo to let her do paperwork today. She got up off of Nick's couch and stumbled to the kitchen, going to his medicine cabinet to get some ibuprofen.

She got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water, taking two pills and quickly drinking the entire thing, gasping for air. She filled it again and drank it all, looking at the empty glass, wondering if she should go for another. She felt lightheaded and decided that juice would be a smarter option. The idea of a glass of juice made her mouth water, and she realized that she was also very hungry. She limped her way over to Nick's bedroom door and knocked.

"Nick…" she said.

_Knock knock knock_

"Nick, can I borrow some juice?" She asked, not sure if he was awake. Inside, he vaguely heard the question.

"You gonna give it back?" He asked in his just-awoken stupor. Judy shook her head in confusion.

"No, I'm going to drink it," she clarified.

"Oh… yeah, that sort of figures…" he yawned. "Oh, man, what time is it?"

"I don't know, juice time," Judy said, not having the energy to converse.

"Yeah go ahead, I'll be out in a sec," he said. She shambled back to the kitchen and filled her glass with orange juice, drinking the entire thing in a few gulps. The sugar quickly made its way into her blood, and it was like a bomb went off inside of her. A very pleasant bomb, of course, but a bomb nonetheless. She felt like the world had just changed from black and white to color, and she grabbed onto the counter to steady herself. Nick came out of his room with a bathrobe on and watched as Judy gasped and panted.

"That must have been some good orange juice," he said, not exactly sure why she was acting the way she was.

"The best I've ever had! I feel like a million bucks!" Judy said. She was still sore but she felt like she could move a mountain. She then wised up to what was going on: it was a sugar rush, and after hours of recovering from exertion and not eating anything, she really did not want to crash. "Quick, what do you have to eat? I've gotta eat something," she said hurriedly.

"Uhhh… I've got some blueberries…" Nick said.

"I need protein! Or fat! You got any nuts? Avocado?" Judy said, rushing to get something substantial before her sugar rush wore off and left her in the dirt.

"I've got almond milk?"

"That'll have to do," Judy said, grabbing the carton out of the fridge. She poured herself a glass and guzzled it, licking her chops. "Wow, that is tasty stuff! I gotta get some of that for myself," she said, looking over the carton.

"I don't know if rabbits are really supposed to drink that fluff…"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Judy asked, Nick shrugging.

An hour later they were in the bullpen, awaiting assignments. Judy was feeling the effects of the almond milk, mild nausea and stomach discomfort. It paled in comparison to her full-body muscle ache but even that was tolerable after the pain reliever she took. She was a little run down, to say the least, and sat with her head on her arms, her ears sprawled out over the desk, Nick on his phone next to her.

The Chief calmly opened the door and closed it behind him, nothing having irritated him enough to warrant his usual dramatic entrance. That, and it was six AM on a Friday; everybody was tired. Even the usual pounding and grunting was absent. Bogo looked over to Higgins, confused by the fact that he had not called attention, the hippo also falling victim to the general state of slump.

He shrugged it off and walked up to the podium, placing some folders down. He looked over the room of half-asleep officers, frowning: even Judy was asleep. He started whispering the assignments, figuring that would startle them just as much as him yelling while requiring far less effort.

"Assignments for today: Snarlov, Wolford, Happytown patrol. Trunkaby, McHorn…" he started, none of the officers reacting to his strange whispering. Nick was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, wondering if the buffalo had finally lost his marbles.

"You doin' alright there chief?" He asked, concerned.

"I was hoping for more of a reaction, but it appears you were the only one who noticed," he said quietly, looking out over the room.

"Maybe we should just take a day off, can't see how that would cause any problems," Nick joked, Bogo giving an amused huff.

"Even Hopps is asleep… how is she?"

"She just drank some almond milk that didn't agree with her… oh, and she lifted up a thousand-pound section of scaffolding yesterday, so she's a little worse for wear but I think she's alright."

"Yes, so I heard... I can't wait to see the newspaper headlines. Any ideas on how to wake everyone up, Wilde?"

"You're the chief, Chief," Nick said. Bogo then smiled deviously.

"I'd like to take a moment to congratulate officers Wilde and Hopps on their engagement," he said with a smirk, making Nick facepaw. The entire room rocketed awake, murmur spreading through the room. Judy's head whipped up to attention, her face twisted in confusion.

"Ok, now that everyone is awake, I regret to inform you that Hopps and Wilde are not engaged and that their relationship is still platonic and disappointing to Clawhauser," he said, looking through his files. "Now, assignments! Snarlov and Wolford, Happytown patrol. Trunkaby, McHorn, security detail for the Mayor's Son's birthday party. Delgato and Fangmeyer, patrol, route enclosed. Jackson and Andersen, Tundratown precinct 52 observation. Wilde, Hopps, parki- oh wait I crossed that off, you two have a special assignment. Pennington and Grizzoli, traffic enforcement. Finally, Rhinowitz and Johnson, there's a snow leopard reported missing in tundratown, find her."

The room cleared out and the two officers went up to Bogo for their assignment.

"You two are being put on enforcement for the Blakesley Construction case. I was informed of the investigation early this morning by the team in the A3I, they said that the owners were in some serious trouble. You'll likely be arresting them today, they will give you the go-ahead. I told them to call you at six-fifteen, in two minutes, to brief you. Dismissed," the Chief said. They saluted him and left the room.

"Gee that was quick," Judy said.

"Yeah, it hasn't even been a full day, that team must have been up all night!" Nick replied. Rhinowitz and Johnson then walked over to them, Rhinowitz looking like he just saw a ghost.

"Hey, this assignment we got, the missing mammal in tundratown… it's that special agent! The one I shot!" He said, showing the two the file. On the first page of the report was an image of Tatyana Vecher, special agent in the A3I. The two looked at each other.

"Didn't you text her yesterday?" Judy asked Nick.

"Yeah… How long was she reported missing?"

"Four days," Johnson said.

"Hold on," Nick said, taking out his phone. He called Tanya and she answered in a few rings but wherever she was made it very hard to hear her.

 _"Hey ...ck… some…ong?"_ She said, a massive roar dominating the call.

"Tanya? What is that noise? Are you ok?" Nick said, concerning the other three officers. She started yelling, and a few moments later the roaring quieted down significantly.

_"Sorry, I'm on a helicopter, had to hook up my headset to the phone. What's the problem?"_

"We just got a missing mammal report for you, your neighbor called it in."

_"Aw! That sweet old lady, she's always worried about me. I left a few days ago, me and James are on a case in Artica, nothing to worry about."_

"Oh… huh, well, good luck! Cya!"

_"Goodbye!"_

"She's on a case in Artica, left a few days ago," Nick said as he put his phone in his pocket. Johnson looked at the file.

"Well that was quick," the lion said. Bogo came out of the briefing room, and Rhinowitz got his attention.

"Hey, Chief! We found that snow leopard! She's an A3I special agent on a case in Artica, her neighbor reported her missing," he said.

"Very good! Very boring though, go find something to do with yourselves… something useful, might I add," the Chief said. Nick felt his phone buzz and pulled it out, another A3I agent calling him, this time a member of the investigating team.

 _"Hello, this is Agent Adalet, is this Officer Nicholas Wilde?"_ A female voice said.

"Yes, are you calling about the investigation?" Nick asked, waving Judy over. They went back into the briefing room to talk in private, Nick putting the call on speakerphone.

 _"I sure am. We've been doing some digging, these two are a seriously evil couple,"_ the agent said.

"Which two?" Judy asked.

 _"The Blakesleys, the owners of Blakesley Construction. They inherited the family business from the male's parents, who inherited it from theirs, going back four generations. Four generations of corrupt garbage, but I'm calling to give you two the green light on throwing them in the slammer,"_ the agent said, Nick smirking at Judy, ready to get his paws dirty.

"Sounds good to me, anything we should know?"

_"Yes, actually. Last night at one thirty-eight A.M. the power to the Blakesley estate cut off. We didn't want to sound any alarm bells in case it was a simple accident or routine outage, but there is a distinct possibility they went offline intentionally, and they may know you two are coming._

_"The two are corrupt, greedy, and evil, but they aren't crazy, so I wouldn't say you are in danger. It is very possible that they will have guards making the arrest difficult, and the legal knowledge to do it in accordance with the law. If you two get stuck in a legal stalemate, we'll send over the special agent on the team to make the arrest, since we can legally supersede anything they can throw at us."_

"Geez, sounds like this is gonna be fun," Judy said.

 _"You never know. Worst comes to worst, Special Agent Ortiz will come and kick their ass,"_ she said, making the two chuckle. _"Good luck. You know who to call if there's a problem."_

"Yep, bye," Nick said, hanging up. "Ready to go fluff?"

"I guess, my stomach does not feel the best though, you were right about the milk," she replied.

"If you're gonna throw up, do it out the window," he said, to which she rolled her eyes and smiled. They walked to the garage and got into their cruiser, Nick taking the wheel. They left their sirens off and started making their way to the address that Clawhauser sent them. It was deep in the backroads of Tundratown, far away from other homes. If they were planning anything there, or something had happened, there likely wouldn't have been anyone to call the police. Judy took out her phone and read about the company and its history.

"Wow… their grandfather was accused of murder and hung for burying seven of his workers in concrete in the Triburrows dam. They had to demolish and repour the section and he tried to keep the other workers quiet as they found the bodies, but they reported it."

"Sounds like a swell fella," Nick said.

"Yeah. Apparently, the owners before these two cheaped out on the construction of some mall in Savannah Central in the '70s, and it collapsed. Killed thirty-four mammals, but they couldn't get any real dirt on them so the case was closed," Judy said, still reading her phone.

"Oh, I remember my mother talking about that. One of her friends in high school was killed," Nick said. "Anything recent?"

"Not really, a lot of stories about workers getting hurt and being fired for not being able to work, not getting workman's comp or anything, no reports filed."

"Sounds exactly like what Hoofacre was talking about."

"Who?"

"Peter Hoofacre, the site manager from yesterday's accident, a pig."

"Oh… I hope they left him alone, there's plenty of stories of workers, especially managers, going missing," Judy said. Nick tightened his grip on the wheel, hoping he had made the right decision in not taking Peter to the precinct. They crossed over into tundratown and were only minutes away from the estate. Nick carefully watched the GPS as they got closer, and soon the Blakesley estate loomed over the landscape, atop a hill, shrouded in forest.

As they got closer it became clearer that there was something wrong. The front door was wide open, and the statue out front was in pieces on the ground. What used to be a wolf, with hammer and saw in paw, was now rubble strewn across the driveway. They pulled up in front of the entrance and noticed red hoofprints leading out the door, the door and the windows around it stained with a dark liquid. They got out of their cruiser and walked up to inspect it further, and the smell of blood was heavy in the air. Nick kneeled down to look at the bloody hoofprints, realizing they were from a pig. Judy looked at the door and windows, confirming that they were all covered in droplets of blood.

"Oh shit Slick."

"Well said Fluff," he replied. Judy gagged, and rushed back to their cruiser, vomiting on the driveway next to it. Nick turned and jogged over to her.

"Well, looks like you didn't need the window… you ok?"

"Yeah, I feel better. I think it was the classic almond milk-horrible crime scene combo," she said jokingly. Nick went to the trunk and got a water bottle for her.

"I'm gonna take a closer look," he said.

"I'll call a forensics team," she said, getting back into the car. He walked back up to the front door to look inside, though it was quite dark. The first thing he saw was a grand staircase leading up to a second-floor balcony. To the left was a small dining room, to the right a hallway too dark to see down, but he could see pieces of debris on the floor, and two lifeless masses, shrapnel sticking out of them. He wondered whether he should take out his flashlight to see better. He thought he had seen it all after seeing Dennis Brodeur torn apart in his bathroom, but he knew things could always be worse.

His paw hovered over his flashlight, struggling to choose between knowledge and peace of mind. He'd rather postpone seeing what horror lay in the darkness as long as he could. Directly in front of him, on the blood-spattered floor, was a small, white wolf plushy with a few droplets of blood on it. He couldn't imagine how someone could do such a thing in front of a child. Judy then took him out of his thoughts.

"Forensics should be here in a few minutes," she said.

"Did you read anything about these two having kits?"


	3. House of Horrors

**Hopefully I wasn't too graphic here, I think I'm well within "teen" but if not let me know! Slight warning just in case: there is a lot of talk about blood and some rather vague description of serious injuries.** **The fun is about to begin...**

**Musical Selection:**

**"The Macrocosm"**

**_Ultu Ulla_ **

**Rings of Saturn**

**_Enjoy!_ **

* * *

_In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt._

_in the absence of light, darkness prevails._

* * *

Judy watched as the spotted hyena stepped out of the police van, the young female already having rubber gloves and a lab coat on, a camera slung around her neck. Rhinowitz and Johnson followed behind, awaiting instruction. The lab tech was finally getting the chance to be out on the field, and she was excited, though slightly nervous. Her piercings and fur dyeing made her look like a scoundrel, but her demeanor was quite the opposite.

"Well, look who's out of the precinct! Ready for your first crime scene big girl?" Judy teased.

"Well, if this one made you throw up I don't know..." she replied, slightly worried.

"Oh please, that was the almond milk," Judy assured her.

"Of course, not the bloody mess… Hey Rhinowitz, Johnson, why don't you two clear some rooms and make sure there isn't anyone in the house," she said to the two, more like she was asking a favor than giving a command. She was definitely not in her comfort zone in a leadership position.

"You got it! Let's go, Bob," Rhinowitz said, waving to the Lion to follow. Judy and Vivian walked up to Nick, who was hanging up his phone after making a few calls.

"Hey Spots, haven't seen you in a while!" He said to the hyena.

"Spots?" She responded, raising an eyebrow in scrutiny, somewhat amused.

"Yep, you have spots, so I'll call you Spots."

"What do you call her, Ears?" Vivian asked, gesturing towards Judy. Nick was surprised.

"Hey, that's not bad!"

"Don't give him ideas…" Judy said, facepawing.

"Ha! Oopsie," she said, putting a claw to the corner of her mouth.

"Anyways, I called Clawhauser, told him to brief the Chief and to put out a warrant for Peter Hoofacre. I also got in contact with the A3I team, they said they'll continue investigating the company while we deal with this mess. The blood looks dry, so we should be able to walk around without disturbing anything too much. You ready to check things out?" Nick asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Vivian replied, holding her camera. Before they walked in she took a few pictures of the hoofprints, then the three stepped across the threshold into the house. Vivian immediately took a picture of the bloodstain and plushy on the floor, along with a few others leading up to the bodies. She had never seen so much blood in her life, and while blood didn't bother her much, the idea that it came out of two mammals who were likely still alive as it happened was quite unnerving.

She walked over to the two wolves on the floor and switched the camera to thermal mode, the pictures to be used to determine the time of death. Nick and Judy took out their flashlights and scanned around, finding the blood spray almost eight feet up the wall around the door.

"Whoever killed these two was strong," Judy said, the distance the blood had traveled astonishing her. Of course, it wasn't as if the entire room was completely inundated, but the spray of droplets was quite extensive. Nick noticed something on the floor next to the plushy, a phone with a wood pattern on the back, nearly completely blending in with the floor.

"Got a cellphone here," he said, Vivian throwing him a marker. He caught it, setting it down next to the device to be recovered.

"Could you two take a closer look at the bodies?" The hyena asked, her paws full with the camera. Judy nodded and Nick trained his flashlight on them. There were wooden splinters lying on the floor around them, as well as sticking out of the two wolves. The splinters were large, but none of them were tremendously deep, and they looked like they had come from the door to the basement, which had been totally mulched. The two were definitely the Blakesleys, and they weren't as mutilated as the officers thought they would be, given the amount of blood. Judy found deep cuts on their front side, appearing to have been made by sets of four claws.

"Looks like they're full of splinters from the door, but I doubt that killed them, none of them hit anything vital. They have deep lacerations on their chest and abdomen, looks like someone used both paws and made a sweeping motion across the two… it must have been a polar bear, or a big tiger, there's no way a pig did this. They cut through some of the ribs too," Judy said.

"They must have had brass claws," Nick guessed.

"Probably. It's almost like they were trying to get as much blood splatter as possible, what a psycho," Judy said. That statement made Vivian think. _Why would you try to get a huge blood splatter?_ She stood where the two would have been and looked at the splatter, quickly finding a gap in it. There was someone on the floor when the two were killed, right where the plushy is a few feet from the stairs. She took a picture from where she stood, where the Blakesleys had been standing the night before. It was an eerie feeling.

"There was someone else right there, lying on the floor," she said, pointing to the plushy.

"Didn't these two have a daughter, fluff?"

"Yeah, Clarissa Blakesley, seventeen."

"It's possible that she had a stuffed animal," Vivian added.

"With parents like that, I'd take any friend I could get," Nick said.

"What about this trail here? Looks like she was dragged, she was still alive too, there are claw marks in the wood. In fact, I don't think she was even bleeding, it looks more like a mop," she said. The blood trail led directly to the doorway into the basement. "Who wants to go first?" She asked jokingly.

"Did the other two clear it?" Judy asked.

"I don't think so," Vivian said. "Hey Rhinowitz, Johnson! Did you guys clear the basement?!" She yelled, hoping to reach them upstairs.

"No, not yet, do you need us to?" Johnson said from the second-floor balcony.

"Yeah," she confirmed. The two made their way down the steps from the second floor and stood in front of the doorway to the basement, hesitant.

"You guys scared or something?" Nick asked, quite sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'm gonna get annihilated like these two," Johnson said, pulling out his tranq gun and proceeding down the stairs anyway. Rhinowitz followed behind him and the stairs creaked as they plunged into the inky blackness. The room they descended into had brick walls and a concrete floor, unfinished since the day it was made many years ago. There were no rooms to clear, the entire basement being one space, extending a few feet in front of the stairs. A large, squarish room stood to the right of the stairs, a long and narrow hall to the left. There was old furniture everywhere, collecting dust and cobwebs.

"You see this Chris?" Johnson asked.

"It's kinda hard to miss… guy looks like he got thrown into the stuff," Rhinowitz said, a dead tiger laying on top of broken chairs. There was a pool of blood on the floor below him, and the two surmised that he had been impaled by the furniture. Johnson looked more closely at the square room with the tiger while Rhinowitz took the hall.

The hall had all sorts of furniture lined up against its walls, especially under the stairs. At the end was a pitch-black oval, a void fixed to the wall. It was a dark room so it was natural for a mirror to be dark, but this was complete oblivion. _It could just be the angle,_ he thought. He looked to the furniture around him, and the walls, and noticed cracks in the brick, as well as the fact that some of the furniture was broken. His attention returned to the dark shape, attracting his eyes like a magnet.

"You ok Chris?" Johnson asked from behind him, startling him. He tore his attention away from the blackness to look back to Johnson.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Come on, let's get out of here," the lion said, climbing the stairs.

"Yeah, this place is creeping me out," Rhinowitz said, turning to walk to the stairs. He ascended them to find the others waiting at the top.

"It's clear?" Vivian asked.

"Yeah, it's all one room. There's another body, a tiger, but that's it."

"A tiger?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, looks like he was thrown into some furniture and impaled," Rhinowitz said.

"Did it look like a bomb went off?" Judy asked, taking Rhinowitz off guard.

"Huh? No, not really…" he said.

"You'd have to be one of the strongest mammals in the world to throw a tiger like that, and to break the door into splinters… there's just no other way," Judy said.

"If a bomb went off down there it's not like any bomb I've ever seen," Johnson said. Judy was starting to get suspicious.

"Guess it's our turn," Vivian said, walking to the steps. She lead the way down as the flashlights of the small officers behind her waved around, scanning the darkness. They arrived at the foot of the stairs and Vivian immediately took a picture of the dead tiger. He was wearing a suit, and a nice one too, but apparently it wasn't chair-proof. The three inspected the scene more closely and determined that Rhinowitz was correct: he had been thrown into furniture and impaled. They all looked around, not seeing any signs of another mammal.

"Where did the daughter go?" Judy wondered, her suspicions getting stronger by the moment. _This place is practically pristine for an old basement, not to mention a crime scene,_ she thought.

"Let's take a closer look at everything. I want to look over this longer room, can I borrow a flashlight?" Vivian asked. Nick handed her his light.

"I don't need it much," he said.

"Thanks," she replied. She walked over to the hallway and looked side to side, scanning the furniture. She didn't notice the black oval on the wall at the end. There was no blood, no clawmarks, nothing. The hall was spotless, aside from the spiderwebs and dust. She reached the end and started looking over what seemed to be a collection of photographs. The first picture she found was new, appearing to be a school picture of Clarrissa. The white wolf had pink-dyed fur on top of her head, just like Vivian, but she didn't have any piercings.

"Poor girl," She quietly said to herself.

_"Vivian…"_

Her ear folded down and she recoiled, covering her head, her heart sent into a flurry. The whispered voice sounded like someone's muzzle was nearly in her ear. She straightened herself, shaking, and pointed her flashlight at the wall. It landed on a black void, and she could see herself in it. _Must have been my imagination_ , she thought, though her heart hadn't gotten the message. She looked away from the mirror for a moment but immediately returned, noticing something odd when she looked away. She looked at herself, moving her head around, watching as the image changed. Dread grew in her mind as she realized that it wasn't quite like a mirror image, but rather like someone very good at mimicking her.

She smiled and watched as her expression in the mirror did not change. Instantly her heart was pounding, and she could feel it throughout her entire body. As she slowly backed away her eyes darted to a new image in the mirror. For a split second she saw Clarissa Blakesley standing behind her, her jaw wide open in terror, plushy held to her chest, splattered with blood. She felt someone touch her leg and she screamed, brushing the paw away. Her vision started going dark and she fell into the furniture.

"Whoa! You ok?" Judy asked the Hyena. She quickly regained control and started panting in fear. "Hey, hey! Vivian! Calm down! It's alright! Slow down, take some breaths," Judy said, Vivian unable to speak. Nick rushed in, seeing her and assuming she was having some kind of panic attack.

"Let's get her out of here," he said, helping to guide her.

"Ohhh, uh-huh, huh…" she tried to speak, walking with the two.

"It's ok Spots, let's just get you out of here for a bit," Nick said. They each held a paw and put a paw on her back, leading her up the stairs and out the front door. Nick opened the door to the cruiser and let her sit down on the seat, the Hyena shaking, her panting slowing down. Judy went to the back, getting a blanket and water bottle. She came back and hopped up on the seat next to her, wrapping the blanket around her.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Judy figured that she was already on edge and that the leg touch had sent her overboard.

"Yuh-Yeah, just… sss-scared out of my m-mind," she said.

"I'm so sorry... I heard you gasp and tried to get your attention, I shouldn't have touched you," Judy said.

"No, it wasn't you, it was that mirror. Something whispered in my ear, it might have been my imagination, but that's when I gasped. Then I looked into the mirror and… it was... god, I don't even know… something was wrong, not even off, just straight-up wrong about that mirror. I tried to smile and my face didn't change, that's when you touched my leg," she said.

"Well, we're done in there, we checked things over and found some evidence of Hoofacre being down there, so we think we've got everything we need," Judy said.

"Good, I definitely don't want to go back… right before you touched my leg I saw… behind me, I… I saw the daughter in the mirror," she said. Judy put a paw on her shoulder.

"It's ok Viv, it's just your imagination," she said.

"I know, I know… but her face, she was covered in blood and she had this look of… terror, she looked like she was about to cry… she had that damn plushy too," she said. Judy groaned in sympathy, rubbing her back. Nick's phone then rang, and Judy nodded to him to take the call.

"We should go back to the precinct… I want you to ride with us, we'll take you to the therapist," Judy said.

"Oh god, I must seem crazy… I was just stressed out, it was my first case, I-"

"It's alright Vivian, everybody has a bad day, you aren't crazy. Just take some deep breaths and step back for a bit," Judy said. She paused and did as the doe instructed, her shaking dying down. She looked the rabbit in the eye.

"Thanks, Judy," she said.

"That's what partners are for," Judy replied. Nick then walked back up.

"Some good news, they got Peter. Apparently he didn't resist much but he's 'talking a bunch of crazy talk,' whatever that means," Nick said.

"Hold on Vivian, I gotta talk with Nick. Chris, Bob, keep her company," Judy said, getting off of the seat and walking with Nick down the driveway. "This has got to be an Enigma, don't you think?" She asked.

"I don't know Carrots, let's not jump to conclusions," he replied.

"I know, but this is really odd, what could do that to mammals? You saw the cuts, the way that tiger was thrown, hell, we still have no clue how the door ended up as splinters."

"I don't know... If a bomb went off in the basement it could have thrown the tiger, broken the door, knocked over the daughter upstairs…"

"But a bomb didn't go off in that basement, you saw it slick, there was dust and cobwebs down there like nothing had happened in years!"

"Let's talk to Peter, then we'll know for sure," Nick said. Judy sighed.

"He _was_ a witness… I just hope he's not the culprit, no pig could do that. God only knows what he actually is if that's the case."


	4. The Culprit

**Lots of dialogue this chapter, and hopefully some tension is built! Let me know how I did. I'm going to start doing a musical choice for each chapter, the selection for this chapter:**

**"Pathfinder"**

_**Labyrinth** _

**Fleshgod Apocalypse**

**Please do look up the lyrics! The band is all Italian but this album was greek inspired. Genius has the best transcription of the lyrics.**

**But more important than that...**

**_Enjoy!_ **

* * *

_Viperam sub ala nutricare._

_A viper nursed at the bosom._

* * *

"It's so odd… she was still alive while they dragged her down the stairs, how was there not a sign of a struggle?" Judy said, looking out the window as Nick drove. Vivian gave her two cents.

"Maybe they knocked her out? Oh! Maybe the stairs knocked her out! We have no clue how tall they were, maybe her head was smacking into the stairs as she was dragged down?" She offered, reclining in the back seat.

"That would do it… but where were the paw prints, or hoofprints from the killer? It was just Peter's," Nick said.

"And where did Clarissa go?" Judy asked.

"There's no way Peter carried her… maybe we should have checked the perimeter for other pawprints, what if she never was in the basement because she escaped before the killer could drag her down?" Nick said.

"We can go back once we interrogate Peter, we gotta get Vivian to the therapist anyways," Judy said.

"I'm ok-... oh who am I kidding, I need to see a therapist," she said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't take your chances on trauma disorders," Nick said.

"What if she got eaten?" Judy said, startling Vivian.

"What? That's ridiculous!" She said. _Well, that's only if a mammal did it,_ Judy thought.

"I don't know Spots, weird things happen," Nick said.

"Ugh… gross," Vivian said, disgusted by the thought.

They arrived back at precinct one and parked their cruiser. The two got out and opened the back door to help Vivian crawl out, the hyena a little too large for their car. They walked through the damp parking garage, hoping to get her to the therapist's office and to get themselves into an interrogation room with Peter. They found themselves in front of the therapist's office and knocked.

 _"Come in!"_ She said. They opened the door for Vivian and wished her well as she walked in.

"Thanks, guys… hey, how's it going?" The hyena asked the brown bear.

"Pretty good, I'd ask the same but we'll probably get to that sooner or later," the therapist said, smiling.

"Ha, yeah," Vivian replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Vivian, right?"

"Yes, Viv for short."

"I'm Doctor Libena Volchek, but you can just call me Lib if you'd like."

"It's nice to meet you Doctor Volchek," Vivian said cordially.

"Why don't you just take a seat here," She said, standing from her desk and leading her to two upholstered chairs. The therapist took a seat and Vivian sat in the other chair. It was large and quite comfortable. "Ok, so, what's troubling you today Vivian?" The bear asked.

"Well… I was investigating a crime scene today, a really awful one, lots of blood and bodies, and I had a… supernatural experience, I guess," she said.

"Was this a spiritual experience?"

"No, more like something out of a horror movie."

"Hmm… did it feel real or could you tell it was just in your head?"

"It felt very real… I fainted and I couldn't speak for a good few minutes, I was panting, and I was shaking for at least half an hour," she said, recalling the effects more than the experience itself.

"Oh dear... I'm sorry Vivian, that sounds really scary… let's put that off for now, why don't you tell me more about the scene, what did you notice?"

"Well, there was blood everywhere, and two dead wolves. They died only a few hours ago, it was almost surreal. There was another dead mammal, a tiger, in the basement… and there was this plushy, on the floor, covered in blood."

"Did the blood bother you?"

"Not really… blood itself doesn't bother me, but... I knew that it came from mammals who were still alive and that their daughter watched them get… slaughtered. It definitely wasn't fun to think of."

"So it was more the pain of the mammals that bothered you? The parent's pain of being killed, and the daughter's pain of watching?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Ok… so you were sympathetic, that's a fairly common response to something like that. You said there was a dead tiger, what happened to them?"

"They were impaled on some old furniture."

"Cripes… did that trouble you at all?"

"No, he looked like he died pretty fast."

"I'd say. What about the daughter?"

"She's gone, we have no clue where she is," Vivian said. Her response was quick, it tipped the bear off.

"Does that bother you?"

"Not as much, I'm more intrigued than worried about her."

"I see. Do you think it would be different if you knew what happened? Say her body was found tomorrow, how would that make you feel?"

"I don't really know… not happy, really. A little relieved, like closure I guess, but definitely sad… I mean, what if she was alive and we could have found her, you know?"

"So you feel responsible, almost?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you are, in a way. You were sent to help figure out what happened, but you aren't truly responsible for her. You are there to help right wrongs, for justice to be served, that is your responsibility, and you are doing your best. What happens to this girl is not under your jurisdiction. It takes quite the mammal to even step into a house like that, you should be proud," the therapist reassured her. Vivian smiled, humbled and relieved.

"Thank you… I guess that was bothering me more than I thought," she said, feeling like she could breathe again.

"You're welcome. Now, what happened, what was this experience? Why did it bother you so much?"

"Well, it was just terrifying in general, but I guess… I think the worst was that I saw her, in this mirror-"

"The daughter?"

"Yeah… she was… she was in agony, her face was, just… she was so horrified… she was covered in blood, and she had… she had the plushy in her paws, up against her chest," Vivian said, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's ok Vivian… take some deep breaths. Why were you looking in this mirror?"

"It… well, it was odd, I was looking at it because it felt off, like I wasn't looking at myself, but a look-alike… I was only looking in it because this voice whispered in my ear- ugh!" She grunted, feeling a sharp pain in her ear.

"Are you ok?" The bear asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just my ear…" she said. She then felt her right ear pop, it felt warm and she couldn't hear as well. Then something moved, something shifted in her ear, and she put a paw to it. She realized that something had fallen out of her ear, and took her paw away, finding it covered in blood.

"Oh dear!" The therapist said, getting up to get some tissues. Vivian sat and watched as blood dripped down her fur, terrified but at the same time dumbfounded. _That voice whispered in this ear…_

* * *

Nick and Judy made it to Clawhauser's desk, and he immediately started briefing them.

"Oh, hey! Mr. Hoofacre is in interrogation room seven, we've been trying to get him to talk but… he really isn't doing well… we even brought in his wife," Clawhauser said.

"Sweet cheese..."

"Has he said anything useful so far?" Nick asked.

"No… just some crazy rambling," Ben replied.

"Really, nothing at all?" Judy asked.

"No, he just keeps saying it was terrible and that he didn't do it."

"Well, only one thing to do now," Nick said, grimacing. They walked to the interrogation rooms and opened the door to room seven, where the pig and his wife were waiting. They sat down at the table in front of the shaking pig. He was wrapped in a blanket, sitting with his wife, breathing heavily.

"Mr. Hoofacre, we know that this is going to be hard, but we need to know what happened," Judy said. He spoke softly.

"I… I didn't do it… I didn't do it."

"It's ok Peter, we don't know who did it, we need your help to find out," Judy said. His eyes lit up, half of his anxiety taken away.

"You're… you're not blaming me?" He asked, his voice stronger.

"No, we need your help to find out who did this. We are relying on you to tell the truth. If it was you, do not lie, you have the right to not implicate yourself and remain silent," Nick said.

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I thought… I thought I was done for…"

"No, you'll be ok if you truly didn't do it. We need to know what happened Peter," Judy said.

"Ok… Ok… oh god…" He started, shaking his head, his wife putting a hoof on him. "It was horrible! They dragged me out of my house, just after midnight. They took me to their mansion and questioned me… they told me the cops had tipped them off and that they were going to kill me for getting the A3I involved," he said.

"The blakesleys kidnapped you?"

"Yes. After she was done yelling at me their bodyguard took me to the basement to… to kill me… that's when it happened. The ground shook and the lights flickered… I- I hid under some chairs and… some… thing killed their bodyguard, threw him like a rag doll. I have no idea how it got into the basement, for all I know it was in there from the start… maybe they were going to have the horrible thing kill me…" he said. The two looked at each other, dreading what they were in for now.

"So, it… it threw the bodyguard, then what?"

"The lights went out completely, I couldn't see, but I think it went up the stairs… there was a crash, and some grunting, like someone was hurt… then, then… hoh, god… there was this sound… it was like someone getting clawed open, and this horrible splash. Someone screamed, a girl… It was the worst scream I've ever heard… she kept screaming for help. Then there was this loud crack and her voice stopped… the thing came back down the stairs and just… disappeared, I guess… I waited for a few minutes and then I ran out, I ran for my life. Once I was on the street I called my wife and she came and picked me up," he said.

"What did this thing look like?" Nick asked, concerned. He signaled to the mammal behind the one-way mirror to stop the recording.

"It was tall, even taller than that tiger, and it was just… darkness, pure darkness, it even had this, like, black mist coming off of it. It didn't look like any mammal I'd ever seen. it was gangly, too, and had these creepy paw things, just stumps with a few claws… it was a demon, straight out of hell, I swear," he said. The two were nonplussed. _Good thing I told them to stop recording_ , Nick thought. He looked to Judy and they nodded to each other.

"Thank you for your cooperation, we'll be right back," Judy said, still stunned by the pig's testimony. They walked out into the hallway, went into an empty interrogation room, and called the agents, Tanya answering.

 _"Hello again! How's it going?"_ She said.

"We've got an Enigma, a serious one too," Nick said.

_"Oh great… how serious?"_

"Three mammals are dead, one is missing, and a pig saw it all. He told his family, and we think some of the officers at the precinct know," Judy said.

_"What did he see?"_

"He said a demon, but we have our suspicions that he's lying and that he isn't really a pig," Judy said.

_"What makes you think that?"_

"The crime scene was just odd, no signs of other mammals, and the daughter was nowhere to be found, possibly eaten."

_"Oof… well, you have him in custody?"_

"Yes."

_"Huh… I can't help but feel like it's not a shifter then… they're hard to catch… real smart."_

"Well, if it's not him, what should we do?"

 _"Well, we aren't going to be there for another few days, we're handling our own case here… you'll need to enact our little agreement and become agents under Enigma. How hard will it be to cover up?"_ Tanya asked. The two had no clue, they had never tried to cover something up before.

"Uhhhh… not to bad, I guess?" Nick said, Judy looking at him, wondering what he had in mind.

_"That doesn't sound good… do you have an idea of what to do?"_

"Yeah… yeah, I think I do. We could play it off as Hoofacre being the wrong guy, some crazy guy pulled out of his house mistakenly. That would clear him and give an excuse for the way he was acting when we brought him in," Nick said. Judy was surprised.

"Yeah, and then we can just brief him and the family," Judy said.

_"I like it… now, what are you going to do about the murder and the missing mammal?"_

"Huh…" Nick said.

"Well, the two were the corrupt owners of a company, we could play it off as a really well-executed hit by some unknown party and let it go cold," Judy offered.

_"That's not bad… you'll have to make sure that missing mammal isn't still around. Do you have any idea of what actually happened?"_

"Well, not really… the pig said it was some kind of demon. Apparently it just disappeared but… Nick, what if what Vivian saw wasn't just in her head?"

"That's possible… could be a cursed or possessed mirror," Nick said.

_"Wait, who's Vivian, what happened?"_

"She was the forensics expert on scene and she had a, well, creepy experience with a mirror in the basement. Said she saw the daughter in it, the missing mammal, before that she had a voice whisper in her ear. She also said the mirror felt off but didn't say why."

_"Huh… there's a few things it could be but I don't want to speculate, you'll need a psychic to get in there and see it."_

"A psychic?"

_"Yes. A real one, not some phony. Go to our office and you'll find a drawer labeled 'mental abilities,' look for a psychometer."_

"A psychometer?"

_"Yes, your classic psychic, they can feel spiritual energy and read the… uh… spiritual fabric of the local environment."_

"So we gotta go to your office and dig through files to find a psychometer?"

_"Yep, and I'd say time is of the essence… your chief likes to cooperate, tell him what's going on and how to cover it up and I think he'll listen, that'll let you two focus on the Enigma."_

"Ok… what if he doesn't want to cooperate?"

_"Once you've taken the oath and have your A3I IDs, you can make him cooperate. This isn't something to be taken lightly. You two need to get someone in there who can tell you what's going on, what to do, and do it quickly."_


	5. Initiation

**The longest chapter so far! Somehow, the chapters before this have been ending up almost exactly the same length, 2600-2800 words, but this one is 3800! Let me know how it is, I feel like it was kind of all over the place.**

**Musical selection for this chapter (song/album/band):**

**"Kings of the Nordic Twilight"**

_**King of the Nordic Twilight** _

**Luca Turilli**

**Enough of that! On with the show!**

**_Enjoy!_ **

* * *

_tunica propior est pallio._

_A tunic is closer to the body than a cape._

* * *

"Is this really the correct course of action?" Bogo asked, unsure about the cover-up plan.

"I'm afraid so, sir. If we are going to work with the agency and deal with this according to their rules, we are going to have to cover this up," Judy said.

"And what if I don't want to do this?" Bogo said. The two were silent for a moment, wondering how to tell him. The two had a solemn look on their face, and Bogo knew what it meant. "I see… Well, if this is the way the world works, so be it. I have no qualms, I'd rather not have a panicked public either," he said.

"Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed," the Chief said. The two stood and saluted him, turning to leave. As they opened the door he spoke up again. "Be safe you two…"

They nodded and left.

* * *

Nick pulled the cruiser up in front of the towering glass and granite-clad structure, the headquarters of the Agency of Investigation and Internal Intelligence. It was the largest, most covert law enforcement agency in the world, and now they were being inducted into its secrecy. An opossum and an amur leopard were waiting for them out front, wearing what were surely bulletproof suits. They stepped out of their cruiser and the two walked up.

"Officers Wilde and Hopps?" The opossum asked.

"That's us," Judy said.

"I'll take your car, you can follow Agent Adalet," the opossum said, putting his paw out for the keys. Nick gave them to him, and he nodded. The female then gestured for them to follow her.

"We have some things to sort out before you are given your IDs," the leopard said.

"Are you the same Adalet who called us this morning?" Nick asked, the three now entering the building.

"Indeed I am. I'm a friend of Tanya's, and while I do not have Enigma security clearance, I am no stranger to the work," she said, stopping at the front desk. She held out a badge and the horse behind the desk nodded to her. She took them to the elevator and once they were in she started speaking again.

"You two are about to be given access to the most well-guarded secrets mammalkind has ever known. It's ok if mammals know you are working with the A3I, it's natural for excellent officers to work with us and among us, but nobody can ever know what you really do here. Not your friends, not your family, not your children, not your lovers, nobody," she said. The two were a little intimidated by the way she put it, though they already knew that what she said was true. The elevator doors opened and they walked down the hall to a small and rather strange room. It had a large television camera, a microphone, and a single chair.

"This is where you two will record your oath. I'll speak the words and you will repeat them while looking into the camera. Don't stress about this; if you mess up, we will do it again. This is a security measure, not a test; the recording is designed to be impossible to forge and can be easily referenced. Who wants to go first?" Adalet said. The two were excited and terrified all the same, but there was no backing out now.

"You pick," Nick said.

"Alright, come on up Nick," she said, to which he playfully stuck his tongue out at her. She smiled as he sat down, her professional aura dissipating with his antics. She hit a button on the control panel next to the camera, and the lights dimmed. Nick's heart started beating faster, memories from the past returning once again to haunt him. A screen on the left wall played the live, crystal clear footage of himself. In the video a voice could be heard in the background, Nick being the only thing visible on screen.

 _"Alright, Nicholas Piberius Wilde, repeat after me:_ _I am an emissary of justice,"_ Adalet said calmly.

"I am an emissary of justice," Nick said, his voice almost faltering on the first word.

_"I am a keeper of peace."_

"I am a keeper of peace," he continued, his resolve growing in strength.

_"I analyze malice."_

"I analyze malice."

_"I persecute transgression."_

"I persecute transgression," he said with authority.

_"My lips are sealed, yet I speak when I choose."_

"My lips are sealed, yet I speak when I choose."

_"I trust in my own self."_

"I trust in my own self," he said, feeling a righteousness in his chest.

The lights turned back on and she smiled at him.

"Congratulations, Operating Agent: Officer Nicholas P. Wilde. Welcome to the A3I. That is your formal title. When introducing yourself, you can truncate that in any way you like, but you must at least include the two words 'Agent Wilde,'" she said. He nodded, lost for words, his heart still cooling down. There was still a piece of him that thought this was a bad idea, but he was relieved to have just gone through with it. He stood up off the chair and Judy walked over to replace him.

"Welcome to the ranger scouts, Slick," she said, making him smile. It was a warm, genuine smile. He leaned against the wall to watch as Judy performed the same oath.

"Congratulations, Operating Agent: Officer Judith L. Hopps. Welcome to the A3I. Same goes for you with introductions, anything down to Agent Hopps will work," she said. Judy stood up and looked at Nick, smiling. Even though the two were worried about what they were getting into, it was an honor nonetheless. Plus, even if it wasn't exactly the goal, the coolness factor was not to be denied.

"Don't let it go to your head guys, we're all still mammals doing our jobs. We're actually a pretty goofy bunch once you get to know us… we act all serious in public but there's no way we'd survive this job acting like that all the time," Adalet said, chuckling to herself.

"Yeah, James and Tanya kinda gave that impression," Nick said.

"First names? Oh, well, I can't fault them… they're definitely the goofiest of us all, they have to be to deal with the stuff they do… come with me, we'll get your uniforms and equipment," she said. She took them back to the elevator and hit the last button, taking them 5 floors underground. They stepped out into a pure white hallway with glass windows lining its walls, ports into the various labs. Adalet started walking them down it, and Judy noticed that one of the rooms was much more industrial looking, with various metalworking machines.

"What kind of lab is that?" She asked.

"Uh, can't tell you?… oh! I can tell you! Well, wait… no, I can tell you some of what it does; it's for making guns, among other things," adalet said.

"Guns?"

"Yes. As you know, they are heavily regulated, so heavily, in fact, that it's cheaper and easier for us to make them ourselves than to buy them custom made for our agents. It also gives us far more versatility with our weapons. The shop does other things too, which I don't think I can tell you about, though aiding in investigations is a big one that I can tell you," she said. They reached the last door in the hallway and opened it for them, entering behind the two. She didn't say anything, staying suspiciously silent behind them.

"What's going on?" Judy asked, looking over the completely white room. She looked up to see the leopard trying to hide a smile, which was a relief. There were two small suits hanging on the wall, guns and badges seemingly floating, set on an invisible table next to the suits. Judy couldn't see it, but something was moving in the whiteness, and Nick couldn't quite tell what it was. _Must be someone with a cloaking device,_ he thought. Judy heard them move and soon enough they both saw two eyes and a nose floating in the air.

"Hey, hows it goin?" A voice said, a mouth appearing in the air below the eyes and nose.

"AH!" The two jumped back, Adalet laughing behind them. Something in the air changed, and an arctic fox appeared out of the whiteness, wearing completely white clothing, her white fur matching.

"Ha! I changed the lighting so there were no shadows, it makes me nearly invisible. Fun stuff right?"

"You got me, that's for sure," Judy said.

"I'm Doctor Frode, I run the labs here," she said, sticking out a paw. The two shook her paw and introduced themselves.

"Agent Wilde," Nick said, smirking. The name simply rolled off the tongue, it was wonderful to him. She coyly smiled back at him, his smirk being slightly misinterpreted by the fellow vulpine. He noticed but decided to save the clarification for later, if the need arose. She moved on to Judy.

"Operating Agent: Officer Hopps," she said, deciding to be more formal.

"So you two are from the ZPD and joining the Enigma program, huh? I have to say, that is quite the jump, but I know your reputation; if anyone was going to do this, it would be you two. I've got a few things that'll help anyways," the scientist said. She walked them over to the suits and handed them to the two.

"Wow," Judy said, marveling at how soft and light it was. She felt the fabric; it was thick but it flowed easily and felt breathable. "This can stop bullets?" Judy asked.

"Yep. Go ahead and punch it, see what happens," Dr. Frode said. Judy punched it, and it was completely stiff, the entire garment pushing away from her fist like a piece of poster board before quickly falling back as a fabric.

"Woah… how the…?"

"Well, obviously, it's a bit of a secret, but the idea is that the faster you try to deform it, the harder to bend it is. When you move your arm, or even if you sprint in it, it flows like a fabric, but when it's hit at high speed, by a bullet or punch, it becomes as rigid as a steel plate. It's been tuned not to interfere with the movements of mammals even as fast as gazelles and cheetahs. A punch or two might not be fully guarded against, but I have no doubt that you two can hold your own in a fight. They are also cut and stab-resistant, but remember you still have a head.

"The fabric is designed to be light and breathable while still appearing to be a high-end suit. It has the thermal properties of sportswear, the appearance of the finest formalwear, the protection of the best body armor in the world, and the technology of the A3I.

"There are a few other features that are new to your suits, the first of their kind. The most important I'd argue is temperature control. When you get incredibly active and start heating up, panting is not an effective way to cool down. These suits have full-body active cooling; fair warning, the exterior can get pretty hot when this is active. They can also warm the wearer if needed, the outside becoming cold in that case. They are powered mainly by your movement, though they can draw energy from virtually any source; ambient EM-radiation, intense heat outside the suit, your own body heat in the suit, et cetera. It stores the energy until needed.

"The other improvement is an ability to contract to provide increased strength and joint support, as well as compression over injuries. It works great in conjunction with the cooling for hard work," she said. The two looked at the suits in their paws, astonished.

"Mind if ask how much these things are worth?" Nick wondered.

"Well, they're two of a kind right now, there are probably mammals who'd fight wars for them. In terms of the cost to produce, maybe a couple thousand dollars, not more than fifteen thousand I'd guess. We don't mess around with frivolous spending; we could have made those suits a few years ago for a couple million, but we waited 'till now to reduce cost," she said.

"Huh… that's not bad," Judy said. She then started leading them over to the table with equipment and badges on it.

"We do our best here... Moving on, these sunglasses act as a heads up display for the suit and the wearer, monitoring energy use and availability, heart rate, fatigue, damage to the suit, and a few other things. We tried to get it to do a full-body injury report but it doesn't work too well, it's buggy. It was supposed to be able to detect blood but sometimes rain sets it off… Ha! We got a signal from the guy who was testing it that he was covered in blood and we freaked out! It was funny, shoulda had it on video or something… anyways, we're still trying to figure it out.

"This is your new ZPD and A3I ID. It has your ZPD info on one side, A3I on the other. We don't recommend flipping them back and forth too often. Also, we don't have any badges for you yet, and we might not give you badges. They are being phased out here at the A3I, so we don't see much reason to," she said. They took the IDs and put them in their badge holder, A3I side out for now.

"Now, on to the serious business, these are your guns. They have been custom made for you. Judy, yours is a twenty-two caliber, magazine-fed, semiautomatic pistol. We made a total of three ten-round magazines for you. Nick, you have a thirty-one caliber pistol, same as Judy's but thirty percent larger, with three twelve-round magazines. There is a magnetic pocket on the inside of your suit for them. I can give you more specifications if you'd like, but just know that they are very lethal options, even for large animals like tigers. Don't shoot at anything you don't want to kill," she said. The two gulped as they took the cases with their weapons. There was a faint buzz, and Doctor Frode took out her phone.

"Your cruiser is ready. Agent Adalet will take you to it, then we will leave you on your way and give you access to the Enigma Program," she said. She waved goodbye to them and they followed the amur leopard back to the elevator. She took them two floors up, now only three floors below ground. The elevator doors opened directly to the parking garage, and in front of them was a car just like their own cruiser with the opossum from earlier standing next to it. The problem was, there were no lights on top, the windows were tinted a deep black, and there were no markings either.

"Uhhhh…" Nick said, concerned about what Bogo would think of their edits.

"Don't worry. Show them the thing," Adalet said to the opossum. He pressed a button on the keychain and instantly the windows de-tinted, the ZPD logo and other insignia appearing aswell. The lights slowly rose out of the roof and the license plate flipped over, going from GOVT to ZPD. It was exactly like it was when they dropped it off.

"Ok, that is kinda cool," Nick said.

"I thought you guys said you didn't like frivolous spending," Judy joked.

"Yeah, but this is worth it," Agent Adalet said with a smirk. "Welp, now that you've gotten all your toys, back to work," she said, waiting for the two to get into their new retrofitted cruiser.

"Yeah, Tanya said we had to hurry. Could you take us to their office?" Judy asked. She was surprised, slightly disappointed by them not trying out the car.

"Oh! Sure, it's a door down from mine," she said, leading them back to the elevator. They took it up to the top floor, floor eleven. She guided them down the hall to the only unmarked door. Their first entrance into the office was only a few weeks ago, and now it was theirs, in a way. "Here you go, the A3I's best-kept secret," Agent Adalet said. She waved goodbye and went back to her office.

"I feel like I am standing on the edge, the precipice, Carrots," Nick said. It was different from the times they were here before. Now they weren't being guided down the dark path, they were heading in alone.

"Same," Judy said.

"Well, we were told to hurry, and we have a job to do," Nick said.

"That we do, Slick, that we do," Judy said, turning to him. They nodded to each other and stepped in, searching for the drawer that Tanya had told them about. Nick found it fairly quickly, and luckily it was a bottom drawer, on their level.

"Got it, mental abilities right?" He asked.

"Yeah," she said, walking over to help sift through files. "Maybe we'll use my old neighbors," Judy said with a chuckle.

"I always remember you complaining about them eavesdropping and thinking it was odd," Nick said, pulling out a folder. It was a telepath, not a psychometer, so he put it back. There were only thirty or so files in the drawer, and soon enough they found their first psychometer, but they were from Mammopolis, much too far away. They were beginning to lose hope, coming up on the last file. Judy pulled it out and opened it.

> **_Case Report: Tamela Amon_ **
> 
> **_Overview_ **
> 
> _Tamela Amon: Caracal, age 27, 4' 3" in height with a medium/small build, piercings on nose and ears. Currently resides in TriBurrows Penitentiary, cell 502._ _Suspected of the murder of Daniel Blakesley_
> 
> _Investigation result: Highly likely to be the culprit_
> 
> _Judge ruling: Guilty, life sentence._
> 
> _Enigmatic Property: Tamela is a psychometer. The murder was instigated by belief/knowledge that Mr. Blakesley was harboring a demon._
> 
> _Cover: Tamela appears to have, and most likely actually does have, a mental illness of some kind. Demon belief and other psychometric ideas and feelings can be shrugged off as such, though they are indeed accurate. Her abilities were verified by extensive testing proctored by S.A. Vecher._

"Woah…" Judy said.

"What?" Nick said, unable to see the report.

"I found a psychometer… she's in prison because she killed the previous owner of Blakesley construction…"

"Woah indeed… what happened?"

"Apparently she knew, or felt I guess, that he was harboring a demon so she killed him…"

"Looks like Hoofacre was right… you said she's in prison?"

"Yeah, in the TriBurrows, a hundred miles away," Judy said with a sigh.

"I wonder if we could get a helicopter ride over…" Nick thought out loud. He went over to James' desk and jumped up, looking at the phone for department numbers. One of them, special activity resources, had a sticky note next to it, labeling it as transportation. He grabbed the comparatively huge phone and put it over his shoulder, dialing the number. He put the hoofset to his ear and cradled it like a baby.

 _"Special activity resources,"_ a male voice said.

"Hey, this is Agent Wilde, one of the new guys from the ZPD, my partner and I need a helicopter ride to the TriBurrows penitentiary."

_"Any particular reason?"_

"We're on an urgent case and need to speak to someone there," Nick said.

 _"Ok. If you're in a hurry I'll have them send a T.R. V-Tall, E.T.A. three minutes, just take the stairs to the roof,"_ the operator said.

"Ok… well, great, thank you," Nick said.

 _"No problem. Kick ass out there Wilde, tell Hopps I said hi,"_ the operator said, hanging up.

"Ha! Hey Fluff, the guy told me to kick ass, and to tell you he says hi!" Nick said, highly amused.

"What a guy! Did they get a helicopter for us?"

"Yeah, I think they're actually sending a special fast one," Nick said, enthralled.

"Dang! Where do we go? How long is it gonna take?"

"The roof, three minutes… we should put on our uniforms and get up there," Nick said. They left the office and closed the door, carrying their weapon cases and suits with them. They entered their respective bathrooms and took off their police uniform.

The pants, shirt, and jacket fit perfectly on Judy, not too tight but enough to follow her curves. She found the pocket for the gun and put the shiny, chromed weapon in the holster, a magnet in the suit grabbing it and holding it firmly. On the other side were two more slots for magazines, which she then filled with the heavy ammunition. She buttoned up the jacket and could barely tell any of it was there. She straightened up her tie and put the sunglasses on, a very discrete heads up display appearing in her vision, like she was in a video game.

She opened the door and walked out into the hallway, Nick also coming out at the same time. They looked each other over for a moment, smiling and nodding. Nick looked pretty good too, though he didn't like the style of his glasses. They found a door to the roof at the end of the hallway, opening it and walking up two short flights of stairs. They arrived at a flat roof with a large helipad in the middle, and Judy could hear the thumping of a helicopter in the distance, but it sounded odd. She then noticed the strange winged aircraft approaching.

"Didn't they send a helicopter?"

"I guess not…" Nick said, watching as the plane's wings turned, its large propellers pointing straight up. It tilted back and slowed down before landing gently on the helipad. The rotors were still spinning and a door on the side opened, a wolf in military uniform waving to them to get in. They ran up, pushing against the strong wind from the aircraft, and the soldier pulled them up into it. It took off as the door was still closing, and the two dropped into seats, quickly strapping themselves in.

"What the hell is this thing? we asked for a helicopter," Judy asked, raising her voice slightly. It wasn't tremendously loud but it was no concert hall.

"Tiltrotor VTOL, it's the fastest way to get off of a helipad to where you want to go," the wolf replied. Nick and Judy turned to the small window between them and watched as the wing turned forward, the rotor becoming a propeller, Zootopia quickly fading into the distance.


	6. Uh Oh

**I might** **be posting a little more slowly from now on (** **though it'll probably be more often anyways, I'm bored XD), and I'll be revising the first few chapters. I think they turned out well but there's always room to improve when you write so fast. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, please let me know what you think!**

**Musical selection for the chapter:**

**"The King for 1000 Years"**

**_Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy_ **

**Helloween**

**As always,**

_**Enjoy!** _

* * *

_tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito._

_Do not concede to evil, daringly oppose it._

* * *

"So they know we're coming?" Judy asked. It had only been twenty minutes since they took off and they were already approaching the prison.

"Yeah, the warden is waiting for us outside," Nick replied.

Down on the ground waited Albert Francis, an old bison, perhaps in his sixties. Despite his age, he was no relic of the past; rather, he was a machine tough enough to survive the ages, and he didn't exactly dink around. He watched, stone-faced, as the marvel of modern engineering thundered its way down onto the grassy field, a rabbit and fox in refined suits and sunglasses hopping out. The rotors spun down as the two approached the warden, the aircraft planning to stay in order to bring the caracal back to Zootopia.

"Agents Wilde and Hopps," Albert said in a strong and gruff voice.

"That would be us. Are you the warden by chance?" Nick asked.

"I am, Albert Francis, Chief Warden of TriBurrows Penitentiary," he said, lowering a hoof for the two to shake. "You two wanna see one of my inmates, huh?" He continued, leading the two through the main gate.

"Yes sir, Tamela Amon, cell five-o-two," Judy said.

"Talking Tamela… never thought someone would come to see that maniac. I'm gonna guess that you two'll give me the silent treatment, but I do want to ask why," he said, opening a door into the facility.

"You guess well, I'm afraid we can't say," Nick said. Their hooves, claws, and paws clomped, clicked, and padded on the clean linoleum floor.

"You spooks and your secrets… you two were in the ZPD right?" He asked. As much as he didn't like the whole secret-keeping thing, he understood it fully. He had seen his fair share of secrecy in his years of experience, and he knew these two were simply professionals who needed to get a job done.

"Yep, we took the oath and got equipped today. We were already in a position to become agents if the need arose, and arose it did," Nick said.

"I see. I guess that's why you are here on such short notice?" He asked as an iron gate buzzed and opened to let them through.

"To put it lightly, yes," Judy replied. He led them up five floors of cell blocks and walked them down a hall to cell 502.

"Ms. Amon, you have guests," the warden said. The caracal sat pensively on her bed, not looking over to see.

"I know…" she said, almost in a whisper.

"Tamela, we need to speak with you," Judy said.

"You need more than that…" She said. She stood and walked to the bars, holding them and studying the two. She was taller than Nick but extremely thin, frail even. "Last time mammals in suits came I was the problem to be solved, now you need me to solve yours," she said. Judy turned to the warden.

"We're going to need to speak with her privately."

Minutes later they were sitting in a small, cold room. The stainless steel table, concrete floor, cinder block walls, and fluorescent lighting put a whole new meaning to the word prison. She sat at the end of the table, lightly scratching at a stain of dried coffee.

"Tamela, you're here because you killed Daniel Blakesley. Could you tell us more about that?" Judy asked.

"What would you like to know, Judith?" She responded, almost in a sing-song voice, still fixated on the stain.

"Why did you kill him?" She asked.

She stopped scratching at the stain.

"He was evil," she said, soon after resuming the scratching.

"Why?" Nick asked.

"He did the work of demons, it left them with little to do. They were going to kill him and his family if I didn't," she said.

"We know you have some… abilities… is that how you knew?"

"Yes… I could feel it. If I didn't stop him, he wouldn't have been the only one to pay the price… and now, for saving his family and his employees, I sit, and wait…" She said.

"Well, it seems like you only delayed it. A worker was recently kidnapped, taken to the Blakesley estate to be executed, and according to him, a demon killed the bodyguard, the Blakesleys, and possibly their daughter. We need your help to know what happened."

"Clare? Oh, not Clare… she was sweet and innocent. I knew Clare. Take me to the house, please, I have to know what happened," Tamela said, finally showing emotion.

"That was the plan, let's go, we don't have much time," Judy said, standing up. They guided Tamela out of the room and walked up to the warden.

"Sir, we're going to have to take her out of your facility for a few hours," Judy said, more to inform the buffalo than to ask permission. He cocked his head slightly.

"Do you have good reason to?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid I can't tell you more, but she has a skill set that we absolutely need to utilize right now," Judy said. His face twisted in confusion, wondering if the cat's crazy talk wasn't as crazy as he thought it was.

"I guess if you guys need to, I can't say no… make sure to get her back safe," he said. As strange as it was to say about a murderer, she was still a mammal, and was his responsibility.

"Thank you, sir. She will be returned absolutely unharmed. Could you please remove her cuffs?" Judy asked.

"You trust her?" Albert asked.

"I think we can handle her," Judy said, smiling. He chuckled, realizing he had just asked two ZPD top officers turned A3I agents if they could handle a small cat. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked her shackles.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later the air around the Blakesley estate was vibrating, a thunderous noise shaking the ground, a powerful wind blowing the trees. The aircraft set down in the massive driveway and the rotors spun down, the snowy forest returning to its usual silence.

"This shouldn't take long," Judy told the wolf as the three jumped out of the vehicle.

"You got it, we'll wait here," he responded, closing the door to the machine.

"Notice anything yet?" Nick asked the cat as the three headed towards the door.

"I can feel it already," Tamela said, her paws held out like a mime.

"What is it?" Judy asked.

"I don't know…" she said. She walked over to the fallen statue and touched the torso of the stone wolf, shivering once her paw made contact. To her, it felt slimy and lukewarm, a spiritual testament to cynical ego and greed. They followed her as she walked to the door, the two pulling off the police tape to open it for her. Inside they found what used to be a blood splatter reduced to a stain, the bodies and other evidence having been taken away.

"Bogo must have gotten to work…" Judy said, looking over the dark house. It smelled like bleach with a faint hint of blood.

"Yeah… anything new Tamela?" Nick asked.

"Not really, just that same feeling… it's stronger now. It's like I'm being split apart, half of me wants to stay, the other half wants to go," she said. She walked to the door to the basement. "It's coming from here, but I don't understand it… I want to check out the rest of the house before this," she said, walking back to the staircase. She looked up to the balcony, her focus fixed on a door at the end of the hallway. The metal stairs squeaked and groaned as the three ascended the spiral, soon reaching the top. They continued along the balcony and found themselves in front of the door. Tamela opened it.

"It's the daughter's room…" Judy said, her flashlight exploring the walls.

"She goes by Clare," the cat said as she walked in. The air was much cleaner, devoid of the smell that dominated the house. She had only taken a few steps into the room before she fell to her knees.

"Woah, you ok?" Nick asked, coming to her side. She fell to her front paws and responded in a faltering voice.

"Yeah… this room is just very… conflicted. I can feel everything. Her fear, her disdain… her purity, her good. She was trapped here… a peaceful soul in a sea of evil… terrible," she said quietly. She shivered, and Nick helped her up. She took a deep breath and looked around at Clare's posters and belongings. The plushy was on her bed, spotless, and Tamela was immediately drawn to it. She picked it up and gasped.

"This toy… it has so much… there are so many emotions buried in this… She was holding this last night. She… oh God!" Tamela said, hugging the plushy close. "She watched them die! It was horrible… the demon cut them apart…" she said.

"What happened to her?" Judy asked.

"I don't know…" she said, looking into the toy's eyes for a moment before setting it back down on the bed. She walked back to the balcony and went to the door on the opposite end. She opened it and stumbled back, falling into Nick and Judy. The two caught her, and she yelled as she covered her eyes.

"Close it! Oh my God, close it!" She said, desperate. She felt like she had just walked into a kiln, and the moment Judy closed the door she felt relief. She buried her nose in Nick, and he patted her back.

"What happened?" Judy asked.

"So evil… that room is so evil…" she whispered.

"It's ok, you'll be alright," Nick said, trying to comfort the disturbed mammal.

"I know, I'm just not used to that level of hate…" She said, slowly recovering. Her eyes still felt funny but she decided to move on, as worried about what happened to Clare as the two with her. They descended the stairs and stood in front of the doorway to the basement. "I know what it is now…"

"What do you mean?"

"The feeling, I know what it is… all the evil, it's flowing into this basement…" she said. Nick and Judy looked at each other. "It can't be…" the caracal said, going down the stairs. The two followed her with their flashlights, and she moved her paws around, palpating the air. She immediately turned to the hallway and looked at the mirror at the end.

"No…" she said. They followed her as she slowly approached it, and she stopped inches away from the reflective surface.

"What is it?" Judy asked. She then took another step and completely disappeared into the mirror.

"Oh my god!" The two exclaimed. The two waited and watched in silence, unsure what happened to the cat. Judy felt her heart pounding as she waited in the dark, damp basement, and Nick was no different. He stepped forward to put his paw on the mirror and jumped back as something came out. He fell into some furniture as Tamela walked out of the portal, her jaw open wide as if she had just seen the most horrific sight one could possibly behold.

"What… what… Tamela?" Judy asked, terrified.

"They crossed over…" the cat said, staring blankly down the hallway.

"What?" Nick asked.

"The demons, they came… they killed the family… they took her…" She said, horrified. She collapsed and Judy caught her. Her fur felt warm like she had just come out of a sauna, and Judy thought she knew why.

"Let's get out of here Nick," Judy said, putting the cat over her shoulders. He stood up off of the furniture and walked behind Judy as they left the darkness. They jogged back to the aircraft and the wolf opened the door, Judy jumping in with the much larger caracal on her back. The wolf took the cat and laid her across some of the smaller seats, taking out an oxygen mask and putting it over her muzzle.

"What happened?" He asked.

"She passed out, I think it was just fear," Judy said. The wolf looked over at the looming mansion, wondering what the hell was inside before he closed the door. The aircraft took off and started on the short journey back to the A3I headquarters, Tamela soon waking up.

"What happened, what did you see?" Nick asked as soon as she sat up.

"It was… it was hell…"

"I hope you don't mean-"

"Yes, literally."

"My god… what do we do? Couldn't something come through?"

"Yes, you need to close the hole," she said.

"Why is it there?" Judy asked.

"The Blakesleys were too evil, the demons… they couldn't let some mortal do their jobs, so they killed them, their bodyguard, and they took Clare to hell…" she said.

"Why didn't it just close after they were done?" Nick asked.

"It's because she's in there… Clare is still alive, in hell… her energy is keeping it open… for now," she said.

"What do we do?"

"Either wait for her to die… or go in to save her… and I don't… I don't think she can die in there," Tamela said.

"You've gotta be fuckin kitting…" Nick said, completely taken aback. Judy was also hit hard by the statement, but her mind didn't race; instead, it came to a completely dead stop. She couldn't even think.

* * *

Minutes later they were in their new office, deep in thought. Nick was leaned up against Tanya's desk with his paw on his forehead, Judy pacing around, holding her chin.

"I don't know if I can do this, Carrots…" he said, disturbed by the idea.

"I know… I don't know if I can either… but what are we supposed to do? Let her rot in hell?"

"What if we don't come out? Imagine the searches and the conspiracies, people might figure out what actually happened!"

"What if something comes through the portal and wreaks havoc! How are we supposed to stop a demon? And you heard her, she didn't know if she could die in there!"

"Why don't we call Tanya?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, let's see what she says," Judy agreed. She took out her phone and called the snow leopard, the duo having bothered her three times already today. She answered after a few rings and was clearly groggy.

 _"Hey, this doesn't seem good, judging by the time…"_ she said. Judy looked at the clock, coming to the realization that it was seven o' clock.

"Oh wow, didn't realize how late it was… anyways, uh, we have a problem," Judy said.

_"Great… what is it?"_

"A portal to hell opened in the Blakesley estate. It's still open because the daughter of the Blakesleys was kitnapped and dragged there, and her energy is keeping the portal open," Judy said.

_"..."_

"Tanya?"

_"You've got to be fuckin kitting…"_

"Yeah, that's what I said," Nick added.

_"Great minds think alike…"_

"Our psychometer wasn't sure that the portal would close on its own… she said we'll have to go in to save her," Judy said.

_"Yeah, I kinda gathered that…"_

"What should we do?" Nick asked.

_"Well, I don't think anyone would be better to go than you two, if I am being honest. You are good mammals. It won't matter how big or strong you are, only how strong your will is. Hell is not what you think it is, it's a space full of demons that evil inherently goes to. It's like there's another spatial dimension, the same way you can go back and forth in space, you can be more and less evil. We are in the middle ground, there's also a good, and an evil region that occupies our same space, but not our same spiritual level…_

_"If enough good or evil accumulates in the same space and time in our space, it can cause an interaction where the two different spiritual levels can be physically connected. It's like a wormhole, not some religious spiritual nonsense. Mammals, over the years, learned about this and tried to justify it with superstitions, but it's just the way the universe works. Life is special, in some way, I haven't figured out why it's like this, its just chemical interactions it shouldn't have these strange energies associated with it..._

_"Anyways, these crossovers are what leads to possessions and miracles; in this case, it's extremely significant, and there's good energy holding the hole open because it doesn't belong there. I_ _f you two go in, it'll strengthen the bridge, and if you stay good you will be able to get her back out. Hell is no joke though, it will be mentally difficult. I don't really know much more about what it will be like but don't bet on a picnic. I trust and have faith in you two, you can do this,"_ Tanya said.

"Thank you… I guess we don't have much of a choice," Judy said.

 _"No, but you'll make it. I gotta go to bed, me and James will be back Wednesday, godspeed Agent's Wilde and Hopps,"_ she said, hanging up shortly after.

"I guess we have a plan at least," Judy said, still unsure.

"It's better than nothing, Fluff. Let's kick some demon ass," Nick said.

"Can we kick demon ass tomorrow? It's late…"

"That's probably a good idea…"


	7. Agony

**Sorry if this chapter gets too gruesome later on, I think it's fairly reserved but its... well, its hell, so it's not exactly sparkles and rainbows and unicorns. Warning for vomit, blood, severe injury, and anxiety-inducing scenarios like powerlessness and otherwise psychologically distressing events.**

**The warning sounds horrific... I really don't think I went over the top, so don't worry. There is no detailed description of injury and pain, only rather vague description/enough to be scary. This will be the most "disturbing" chapter, so if you can't handle this, then just skip it and move on with the next chapters. I think it falls within Teen but please let me know if you disagree, and be respectful.**

**Musical selection:**

**"Nightmare"**

_**Nightmare** _

**Avenged Sevenfold**

**As always,**

_**Enjoy!** _

* * *

_Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat._

_Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt._

_Impunity always invites deterioration._

_Acts of mortals cannot deceive the gods._

* * *

Clare Blakesley opened her eyes, awakening from a deep sleep. As she slowly regained consciousness it became clearer to her what had awoken her: yelling coming from the front hall. The wolf's face twisted in disgust and she checked her phone for the time. _1:37 AM, Are you kidding me? Those bastards dragged someone out of their home, didn't they…_ she thought, pulling the sheets and down comforter off of herself, revealing a young white wolf. She had pajamas on, which for her was a black shirt and grey underwear. There was a pink patch of fur on the top of her head, along with a black stripe running along the top of her tail.

She wasn't exactly fond of her parents, and much of her wardrobe, and especially her fur-dying, reflected this. They resented the fur dying, and though she did it because she personally liked it, there was definitely a rebellious aspect to it. She walked over to her door and cracked it open to hear what was going on.

"... It doesn't matter! We own them too, you should have known that, you snake! Now we have to deal with the most powerful intelligence organization in the world!" Her mother said. Though this whole situation pissed her off, that sentence made Clare very happy. _They've got the A3I after them? HA! Get fucked!_ She thought, all her hopes and dreams of her parents getting legally annihilated coming to fruition.

"I'm not going to sit and watch a co-worker lose her job because she got injured and couldn't work! I'm tired of those stories, I'm taking a stand. You two will get what is coming to you, mark my words!" A male voice said, probably a worker.

"Oh, poor Sarah got crushed by scaffolding and almost died, well fuck 'er! Let her die! She shouldn't have been on a work site if she couldn't deal with the risks, she knew what she was doing!" Her father said, striking an intense anxiety into Clare. _God that's awful…_ she thought.

"I go into work every day with mammals trusting that I keep them safe! You can't just!.. That's!.. ARGRAHHHH!" The worked retorted, flustered. He couldn't even comprehend the evil of these two. "You'll pay! One way or another, you'll pay!" He said.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure I will. Take him to the basement, get rid of him." Her mother said. Clare froze. They were going to kill this poor mammal who they dragged out of their home late at night. Part of her wanted to run in screaming to stop them, the other part knew it was futile.

"You can hide from the law of mammals but you can't hide from the judgment of God! You'll burn! You'll be damned, I tell you, DAMNED! An eternity in hell!" The worker yelled, struggling as he was dragged away. He continued to yell about biblical punishments until his voice disappeared, the mammal having been taken into the basement.

Sorrow overwhelmed her, and she returned to her bed to sit. She picked up a wolf plushy and hugged the tiny, fuzzy friend. She cried, resting her muzzle on the soft toy, wishing she had more and could simply bury herself in them, escape the world. This had happened far too many times, and she had not gotten used to it. She refused to get used to her parents executing their workers.

She laid down and curled up with the plushy. _They'll get what's coming to them someday… I'm with you, whoever you are, they'll pay,_ she thought, the only solace she could give herself at the moment. She closed her eyes and felt the tears soak into the fur around her eyes. It felt like it was never going to end, and she didn't just wish or pray but she begged for the day to come where she could live on her own and escape this house of horrors.

Before sleep came to take her from the pain of the world, the bed started shaking. She quickly opened her eyes, not sure what was going on. Soon the entire house was shaking, and she heard glass breaking and doors rattling. Her lamp fell off of her nightstand, and she covered her head, unsure what to really do. They did not get earthquakes, and her sadness was quickly replaced with adrenaline and fear. The lights turned off, and the shaking stopped, leaving her in pitch-black silence.

 _"What the hell was that?"_ She heard her mother say. She picked up her phone and turned on the flashlight, getting up and walking to her door, plushy in paw. She slowly opened the door with a creak, looking over the balcony to see her parents outside the door to the cellar. She started on her way down the stairs, her parents saying nothing to their daughter. She wasn't exactly dressed for company, but her appearance was not her greatest concern at the moment. She waited at the bottom of the staircase, holding on to the railing, the plushy in her armpit and her phone's light shining on the two wolves waiting outside the basement door.

"What the hell is going on down there?" Her father asked to the closed door, afraid to open it. Clare stepped off of the last step and waited. An incredibly powerful pounding then arose from the basement and got louder as it came up the stairs. The door exploded, splinters flying into her parents, and she fell backward to the floor, dropping her phone. It landed face down, the light dimly illuminating the entire front hall. Her parents cried out in pain, both of them full of splinters that had pierced their clothes and fur.

A creature emerged from the basement, taller than her parents, and pitch black, so black that it had no real discernible form. Dark mist emanated from the being, and it briefly looked at Clare as she groaned in terror, its dark red eyes piercing her soul. It returned its focus to her parents and in a flash, it clawed them open.

Clare screamed as she was covered in blood. It was a scream so guttural, so horrific, so much worse than any slasher movie shriek. It was a cry of absolute terror, an instinctual call for all those nearby to run for their lives. She rolled herself over, trying to get up to run away, but she soon felt a horrible wetness and pressure on her ankles and started getting dragged. She dug her claws into the blood-covered wood, the gouging of the floor piercing the air, her screams turning into calls for help. It was all futile, and she watched the plushy and her phone grow more distant until she was pulled down the stairs, her head smashing into the doorframe.

Silence reigned but for only a moment before frantic hoofsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, the one responsible for the noise stumbling briefly. Peter managed to make his way to the top of the stairs in his panic and groaned at the horrible sight he found at the top. He rushed to the front door, leaving a trail of bloody hoofprints, and burst out into the cold tundratown night. He looked back as he sprinted through the snow, hoping he was truly escaping from the abhorrent show he had just witnessed.

* * *

She felt an intense heat all over her body and immediately started panting. Having just woken, she was clueless as to what unspeakable terror awaited her. As she breathed she felt the collar around her neck, and her eyes opened, the white wolf lifting herself up off the ground. The sound of a chain rattled against the stone floor and she felt the warm, damp, hard surface. The blurriness in her vision faded quickly as adrenaline began pumping through her veins. She looked around at the hot stone cavern, lit by smokeless fires and torches.

"Clare!" A desperate voice called out. She looked to her right to see a cage hung in the air, her parents inside, writhing in agony. "Clare, honey…" her mother said, lost for words.

Her mind was racing, not knowing where she is, the impact of her head on the doorframe having erased her memory.

"Mom? Dad? What… what's going on? Are you ok?"

As much as she disliked them, they were still her parents, and instincts were strong. Her eyes were watering, and it was only seconds before she was crying.

"I'm so sorry! Clare! Clare, I'm… I'm sorry!" Her mother said, weeping.

"This can't be!" Her father said.

She stood up to walk to them and after a few steps she reached the end of her chain. The iron collar assaulted her neck and she fell to the floor, grabbing at the choking device. She pulled herself closer to the iron spike that she was attached to and inspected it, hoping to find a weak point. It was solid, stuck into the rock, and the chain was linked to a loop that didn't fit over the wide tip of the bar. She decided to try pulling it out of the stone and grabbed the hot metal. It must have been a hundred degrees in the torturous place, hotter even.

She started pulling, using all her strength to try and slide the metal out of the stone. Her paws started slipping, and she was losing hope quickly, the metal rod too slippery to hold well. Her paws slipped drastically and she felt a sharp pain in her paw, recoiling. She looked at her paw to find it sliced open and bleeding profusely, the pain setting in moments later. She grunted as the pain increased but watched as the wound started to close, fibers of tissue connecting the opposite sides of the laceration. In seconds the cut was gone, and the pain was fading.

"What the fuck?" She said, confused.

"I see you are awake!" A raspy voice whispered. She turned her head to see the horrible creature standing far away from her on the opposite side of the cavern, the black beast obscured slightly by fire. It sank into the ground and seconds later emerged in front of her, towering over her, It's black aura falling off of its perpetually dark bones.

"Uh… huh… no," Clare uttered, terrified beyond comprehension.

"Oh yes… you are here now. And you are MINE!" The demon roared.

"No!" Clare said, stepping back. The demon shoved her and she fell, the round metal pole hitting her square in the spine. Immediately a shock moved through her entire body, her diaphragm seizing up. Before she could fall to the ground the demon grabbed her shoulders, turning into a tiger. The strike to her back left her unable to breathe, and in a panic, she grabbed its arms to stop the monster, but its strength was immense. The cat was dressed in construction gear; a helmet and vest with heavy boots, jeans, and a t-shirt. There was a piece of rebar sticking out if the giant feline's abdomen.

"Remember me?" It asked, blood dripping from its mouth. The impaled worker started pushing harder on her.

"Leave her alone!" Her father shouted. She felt the iron bar change shape, becoming much sharper. She cried out in fear as the tiger pushed harder, her back bending around the tip of the bar. She felt like she was being crushed from the pressure on her spine. There was a snap, and pain like none she had ever felt before exploded in her stomach, her whole body shifting. The demon gave a final shove and she fell to the ground, unable to move her legs, a piece of rebar sticking out of her stomach.

The pain slowly subsided, and the demon took the form of a wolf, kneeling next to her. The bar retracted into the ground, her stomach healing quickly, but now the chain was pulling on her neck, pinning her to the ground and choking her. The worker wolf was covered in a thick, gray paste and leaned over her, vomiting wet concrete onto her face. Her mother and father watched as their daughter was tortured, the same torture they had inflicted on so many mammals. Clare realized that she was being used as a torture device herself, and her fear and pain turned into rage.

"You… rrrrAHH!" She yelled. Her iron collar shattered and she pushed the demon off of herself. She stood up and brushed the concrete off of her muzzle, immediately assaulting the beast. She furiously punched the demon, watching as the muzzle of its wolf incarnation lost its teeth and became disfigured, bleeding profusely from its nose. It fell to the floor with a smile on its face, and she picked up a sharp piece of her broken collar. She grabbed the vest of the wolf and lifted its evil, smiling face to her level, promptly slitting its throat.

It laughed at her while she did it.

Of course, the only sound it made was a series of gurgles, but the smile said it all. She pushed it into a fire and watched as the demon returned to its normal form, engulfed in flame and laughing hysterically.

"Yes! Hate me! Haha, Hahaha! You'll never win!"

"Maybe not, but I'll at least enjoy the fight!" Clare said, figuring that her willpower was too much for the demon to handle.

"Let's see about that!" The demon said, levitating to its feet in front of her, grabbing her head. Long claws came out of its hands and approached her eyes. She held its wrists, trying to pry the beast's paws off of her, but it was immensely strong. Her head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure, and the claws were drawing closer by the second. She grunted with exertion as she tried to escape, soon turning into whimpers of fear as the demon pressed its claws against her closed eyelids.


	8. Peril

**Took some more time with this chapter and spent a little time fixing up others. These last few chapters are going to be more intense, but should also be insightful and badass, not just "ooh hell is scary."**

**Musical Selection:**

**"Revelations"**

_**Valley of the** **Damned** _

**Dragonforce**

**As always,** **_Enjoy!_ **

* * *

_Facilis descensus Averni._

_The descent into hell is easy._

* * *

They knocked on the door to the chief's office, the buffalo quickly calling for the two to come in. The rabbit and fox were back in their ZPD uniforms, but not for long. They got up on the large chair to start briefing Bogo on the situation.

"This does not seem good…" the chief said, inferring from their expressions.

"No… it's pretty bad. There's no easy way to explain it… a portal to hell opened in the basement of the Blakesley estate, and their daughter was taken there by a demon. The portal is still open because she doesn't belong there, so we need to go in and rescue her," Judy said calmly. If Bogo's eyes were open any further they would fall out of his head.

"We'll be going in some time today," Nick said.

"Are there no other options?" He asked.

"No… we really wish there were…"

"Is this really necessary? Is one mammal worth the risk?" Bogo asked. It was a horrible idea to consider, whether they should let an innocent mammal rot in hell, but nothing about this situation was ideal.

"The agents and the psychic agree that, for public safety, the portal needs to be closed. This is the only way that is going to happen," Judy said. Bogo sighed in despair, not ready to let two of his best officers literally go to hell.

"I suppose this is the risk that comes with the most secretive work in the world… if this is what needs to be done and you two are confident that you can do it, then there is only one way to proceed. I'll be praying for you, Hopps, Wilde… I don't know what good it will do, but you will be in my thoughts… dismissed," Bogo said, thinking that he was saying goodbye to another pair of officers.

"Thank you. We'll do our best," Judy said. They stood and saluted him, turning to walk out the door. Before it closed, Nick poked his head back in.

"Don't worry, Chief, we don't plan on staying," he said. Bogo smiled, and the fox slipped away, closing the door. He put his elbows on his desk and rested his head on his hooves. _I'm not ready to lose those two,_ he thought.

* * *

They stepped out of their retrofitted cruiser, the fox and rabbit in black suits walking up to the front door of the estate. They knew that within the house was a gateway to a place of eternal suffering, and it had their name on it. Nick opened the front door and the two stepped through the threshold, entering the cold and dark home. Their hearts pounded as they descended the stairs into darkness, using their phones to light the gloom. They walked up to the black oval and stood, terrified.

"I still can't believe this…" Judy said.

"I can't either," Nick said.

"But we've gotta save this girl…"

"Yeah. No way we're letting her stay in there."

"You ready to kick some demon ass slick?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said. They held each other's paw as they walked through, having to step up to make it through the comparatively large hole. The first thing they felt was the heat, like they were in Sahara Square at noon in the dry season. Nick was met with a massive cavern of dark red stone, a river of lava leading to a lake of molten rock. Standing torches and fire were strewn about, lighting a path ahead of him.

Judy emerged into a cavern of white marble, a river of blood leading to a lake of bodies, the souls of mammals floating lifelessly on the crimson surface. The cave was dimly lit by old-fashioned street lights that gave off a sharp white glow, almost blue. Bones were strewn about the path in front of her. It was overwhelming, knowing where they were.

"It's just like in the book…" Nick said.

"Yeah… I wonder how much else is true," Judy agreed. They were right next to each other, but in their mind, they were in two totally different places. Judy's version of hell was different from Nick's. They let go of each other's paws and started walking down the rather obvious path before them. Nick looked over to the sound of thunder, realizing that enormous rock was falling from the side of the cavern into the lake. Judy saw it too, and watched as the titanic stone fell onto the lake of blood. Nick saw lava spray everywhere, the glowing hot rock narrowly missing him. A large piece hit Judy and sent her flying back.

"Judy!" He cried, rushing to her side. He watched helplessly as she tried to get the burning hot rock off of her shoulder, her paw sticking to it as she tried to brush it off. It was sinking into her shoulder and she screamed in pain.

"Nick!" Judy said, holding his arm and shaking him. "Nick, I'm right here!" She said. He snapped out of it, realizing that she was fine, standing next to him. He immediately hugged her.

"Oh thank god… thank god that wasn't real," he said.

"What happened?" Judy asked.

"I saw a huge rock fall into the lava, and a big drop of it hit you, right in the shoulder. You were screaming, trying to get the damn stuff off of you…" he said.

"Lava?" Judy asked, confused, breaking the hug.

"Yeah," Nick said, not sure why she didn't understand. "The huge lake of lava," he said, gesturing towards it.

"Nick… that's blood."

"What?" He said, looking at it. It was definitely not blood. "Fluff, that's not blood…"

"Are you messing around or something?" She asked.

"No… it's definitely lava," he said. She paused for a second, looking over to the lake, realizing what was going on.

"Is this place messing with our heads?"

"Yeah… what happened felt so real…" Nick said.

"So you see a lake of lava? I see blood… we're in like a big cave, looks like marble, it's this white rock. There are a bunch of street lamps in front of us, old fashioned ones. It's like there's a path laid out for us..."

"For me the rock is red… and there are torches, not lamps," he said.

"How are we supposed to know what's real?" Judy asked, worried that their mission had just gotten much more complicated.

"Good question," Nick replied, fear in his voice. Judy helped him up and they started walking further, coming up on a seemingly natural bridge. Under it flowed the river, lava for Nick and blood for Judy. They both looked over the edge, curious, figuring they wouldn't get this opportunity often. Judy watched as the lifeless bodies of mammals floated by, most of them face down. Nick could see vague forms moving in the lava, nothing like what Judy was seeing but disturbing nonetheless.

"You also seeing the… things floating in there?" He asked.

"Yeah, there are bodies for me… do you think these are really… like… mammals?" She asked, not sure if this was another mind game or truly the souls of the damned.

"I don't know, Fluff… I really don't want to find out either," he replied. They continued on their journey, the winding path taking them through a narrow cavern. Its walls were dripping with what seemed to be water, and the humidity was oppressive. Their suits were working hard to keep them cool, water vapor falling out of the cuffs of their ankles and wrists. Their glasses indicated that the suits could only keep up the cooling for a few hours, and they really didn't want it to stop.

The cavern snaked on, the torches and lamps on either side still illuminating their path. Their paws were wet from the damp stone, and Judy couldn't wait to get out, her pad-less feet irritated. She looked at the arguably beautiful marble walls, the gray stripes and cracks highlighting the granular white structure of the stone. She considered how it would look as a countertop, but quickly realized how bad an idea that was. Cooking on hell rock was an invitation for misadventure. Suddenly Nick stopped, and Judy turned to the fox.

"What?" She asked.

"Right in front of you, Carrots," he said, looking at her like the had three heads. She turned around and bumped her nose against an iron bar, a massive cobblestone structure directly in front of her. "Please tell me you see that," he said.

"Yeah… it wasn't even there a second ago though. It's a big stone thing with an iron gate right?" She asked, wondering if he was seeing the same thing. He nodded to her, confirming that they were both seeing it. A powerful noise shook the ground and Judy stumbled back from the rattling iron gate, the huge mass of metal slowly lifting.

"Looks like we're in the right place…" Nick said. The bars reached the end of their movement with a tremendous bang, and the two started slowly walking through the gate. The slimy cobblestone walls of the dungeon were lit by the warm yellow light of torches. The gate slammed down behind them, and they were trapped inside. Nick grabbed the bars and tried to budge them, hoping there was some way to get out.

"I don't think that's going anywhere, Slick," Judy said. Nick felt dread overwhelm him, hoping that this wasn't their entrapment. They studied their new environment and determined that they would simply have to explore it. They started walking quietly along the dark halls, the torchlight not doing much for them. There were a few chains hanging from the walls, and large wooden boxes packed into clusters against the wet stone. Judy's ears suddenly flicked up, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it?" Nick asked, not having heard whatever she had. She simply put a digit to her muzzle, telling the fox to be quiet. Her nose twitched, and she started backing up. She grabbed Nick and pulled him behind some boxes, wedging the two in a dark corner between the stone wall and wood. Nick then heard what she was hearing; clicking and padding, like a wolf was walking down the hall. In front of them passed a horrible creature with four spider-like legs, each tipped with a paw not unlike their own. The skin was gray and translucent, veins visible through the slimy membrane. Its head had no eyes or nose, just an extremely large mouth with far more teeth than it should have.

They held their breath as the beast walked by, and stood silently as it turned the corner. Judy started pulling Nick away from their hiding spot, and his arm brushed against a chain. The rattling was loud, and he froze in place. Judy scrambled to another set of boxes and the demon came back around the corner, opening it's horrible mouth and spitting at them. Nick pinned himself against the boxes, practically in the middle of the hallway. The creature slowly retraced its steps, creeping through the hallway. It got closer and moved more slowly, prowling like a stalking cat.

Nick tried to push himself closer to the boxes but it wasn't enough and one of the creatures paws landed right on his own. In a flash it had its mouth around his foot, the fox falling to the floor as it pulled on him. He could feel and hear the bones breaking, but the pain was blocked by his insane amount of adrenaline. Incredibly loud pops filled the air, Judy unloading her firearm into the thing, and it let go of Nick's paw. It was full of bullet holes, but still standing, and the two watched as its wounds sealed themselves, the hellspawn rushing after Judy. She sprinted away, leaving Nick on the floor with a destroyed paw.

He looked down at the ruined appendage and the pain started to overwhelm him. He had nothing to bite, nothing to squeeze, he just had to sit and wait for the pain to go away. He felt something shifting in his paw, and looked down to see it healing itself, his toes crunching back into shape, the skin stitching itself back together. In seconds it was back to normal, and his pain was gone. He stood and started running to where Judy was, deciding not to question the strange healing at the moment. He turned the corner and the rabbit smashed into him, knocking him over. She landed on top of him and smiled awkwardly.

The two quickly stood up, the rabbit grabbing his paw and leading him to a door. They entered what seemed to be a cell of some kind and before they could catch their breath she hugged him. She was pressing herself against him, unusually close.

"You ok Fluff?"

"I'm ok, it was just really bad to see you hurt like that," she said. He patted her back.

"It healed itself, I don't know how, but I'm alright now," he said.

"I can see, I'm so glad Nick," she said. She let go of him and sighed. "What now?" She asked. Nick simply shrugged, not sure how to escape this situation. She went to sit on the cot in the corner of the room and panted lightly. She took off her suit jacket.

"Did it stop working?" Nick asked.

"What?" The doe asked, confused.

"The suit, did the cooling stop working?"

"Oh… you know I think it did… it's so hot in here…" she said, loosening her tie. She smiled at him and put on a show as she undid the first few buttons of her shirt. He rolled his eyes at her, not sure what had gotten into the rabbit. He didn't exactly think this was the time for jokes. She then patted the bed next to her, inviting him to sit. He looked at her strangely, seriously questioning her behavior now. He walked over and sat down cautiously, and she put a paw on his arm lightly. He shrugged and brushed it off, creeped out.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

 _Good question!_ He thought.

"What's going on here, Fluff?"

"What do you mean? I'm just being friendly…" she said coyly.

"Yeah well stop it, it's weird…" he said.

"You want me to be mean?" She said. She grabbed him and pinned him to the bed with unusual force. She had her paws on his chest and a leg between his thighs, a very compromising position for the fox. He shoved her off as hard as he could, the suit contracting and pushing with him. He threw the rather heavy rabbit into the wall with great force, surprised by his new strength. He got off of the bed and backed away as she sat on her haunches on the bed. She had a creepy smile on her face, and he was certain now that it wasn't Judy. He turned to sprint to the door but immediately ran into the rabbit. Her eyes had turned orange and were glowing slightly.

He pulled out his gun and dumped a magazine into the imposter, the rabbit falling to the ground, full of holes. He let out a few panicked breaths and inched away from the dead thing. The holes in its head and back started growing rather than healing, and he stumbled as a dark mist flowed out of the body. She melted into a black puddle, joining with the mist and turning into a tall creature. He stared up at the gangly demon that was now smiling at him.

"Are you scared?" It asked. Yes would have been the answer if Nick could speak. "Tell me, why do you fear?" It asked.

"Wha… what?

"Why do you fear? It encompasses you, it is your life. I know the answer, but do you?" It asked. Now he was curious.

"Why do I fear? Like, why do I have anxiety?" He asked.

"Whatever you like to call it, do you know?"

"No… I, I guess it's just who I am, like-"

"LIES!" It screamed. "What sort of lifeform is inherently flawed? Evolution would have crushed such a creature."

"But… but fear is natural, it protects me!" Nick argued.

"No! It ruins you. It pushes you into vile corners that you gladly call your home. You fear pain so you avoid risk, you fear trust so you push those wish to help away, and worst of all, you fear what you don't understand! How foolish, why should you fear something without concrete reason? It is no survival instinct, it is an aberration, a flaw brought on by a comfortable life. You evolved to live in nature but you were forced to live in a city. Even the most masterful of craftsmen can slip and create an abomination. The architects of your world created a place where your irrational fears could run unchecked by the distractions of genuine fear and drive to live.

"They failed, and now you are sick, Nicholas, like the rest of your sentience. Your existence is stretched thin under its own weight. You fear this place, the hell of the damned, yet you live in your own hell that is run by greater fears. I'll give you some advice, fox; fear ME!"


	9. By Fire

**Sorry for the shorter chapter, it just didn't make sense flow-wise to go any further than here.**

**Musical selection:**

**"The Oppression"**

_**Agony** _

**Fleshgod Apocalypse**

**Don't forget to _enjoy!_**

* * *

_Quis habet fortius certamen quam qui nititur vincere se ipsum?_

_Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself?_

* * *

Judy was sprinting down the halls, bouncing off of corners and walls to evade her demonic pursuer. It was large and fast, and wasn't bound by gravity like she was, digging its claws into the solid cobblestone walls to scale and traverse them with ease. Little did she know that it was a creation of both her and Nick's fears, the appearance of a predator in the form of a spider. She leaped from box to corner, swinging off of chains like a parkour master, and she slowly gained on the beast.

After a few exhausting minutes, she couldn't hear it anymore, so she made a few right turns in a row and found herself in a hallway that seemed familiar. She tried to retrace her steps from there and found a fox lying on the floor, clutching his paw.

"Uh, Judy, help!" He said, groaning. She whimpered, unsure if there were any appropriate words at the moment, and picked up the animal she thought was Nick. She started carrying him, not sure where to go. Her body was exhausted but she had to move, she couldn't leave Nick. The fox pointed at a door, the same door his real counterpart had entered minutes ago. Judy carried him over to it and bumped it open, immediately walking him over to the cot and setting him down. She moved to check his foot and quickly found out that it was a mess, but there was something off about it. The blood obscured it, but the bones looked black. She pulled aside some fur and confirmed her suspicion; the bones were pitch black, and the fox screamed as she touched it.

She took her paw away but his screaming continued and became distorted. The scream turned into maniacal laughter as she backed away, the fox slowly morphing into a black creature just like the one Peter had described the day before. She stopped after she had backpedaled a few feet, more angry than scared. The tiny bunny growled, making the demon laugh.

"Ha! Very threatening. I think you know how _cute_ you are… yes, you know it very well, you _hate_ it don't you! _Cutie pie_!" It said, taunting her. She pulled out her gun and shot two rounds before the weapon clicked. She was breathing heavily, staring at the monster. The bullets had gone straight through it.

"You're weak, you know that? You might be immortal and have all the power you want, but you are nothing more than a demon at the end of the day!" She said, fuming.

"Really? I am weak. Who are you? You are just a single police officer in a world where there are other, clearly superior lifeforms. You are nothing!"

"Who are you to say! You're just a monster banished to this place by my creator! My creator, who gives me purpose and who made me for a reason."

"I was not banished by anybody! I've been here all along, endless eons you can't even comprehend. You may not see my purpose, but so be it. You are truly worthless. I know your creators, I know them all too well, they are no gods!"

"Why should I listen to you? Huh? The great deceiver. You're full of shit."

"What would you rather have? A demon tell you a horrible lie, or the terrible truth? What do you think it would pick?"

* * *

The demon pushed him, his suit stiffening up to distribute the force across his torso, and he was sent flying back. The fox landed in the middle of a large room, and immediately sat up. The room was very different, a cobblestone floor with walls made of stone bricks and pillars of solid granite. The domed ceiling above rose over a hundred feet, a hole in the top letting an eerie white light in. Nick stood up and looked around, wondering what he was in for now.

He heard scratching and looked around to see where it was coming from. He twisted and turned as the scratching and clawing got louder, but he still couldn't tell what was making the noise. He then looked up and saw the araneaen beast in shadow high above him, the king of arachnids… his culprit from hell. Rocks fell all the way to the stone floor, disturbed by the movement of the eight-legged horror. Nick started sprinting to the pillars, hoping to get away from the middle of the room, but it was faster.

It landed in front of him with a strange grace and reared up on its back legs, baring its enormous fangs. He pulled his gun again but it was empty, and the spider lunged. He dived out of the way but the fight had begun, and he was no match for the powerful thing. It quickly plunged toward him, attempting to stab him in the leg, failing due to his suit. It could still grip him, and it started pulling him towards it. He bashed at a pedipalp with his gun and managed to break it off fairly quickly, the spider recoiling. He crawled away and got another magazine for the gun, struggling to put it in with his panicked state.

The spider was shaking, pieces of its pedipalp falling off, and Nick was quickly regaining his composure. He stood up and pointed the weapon at the creature, who's appendage had simply regrown. It returned to its threatening position, but Nick wasn't going to wait for it to make a move. He dumped the entire magazine into the creature's mouth and watched as it slumped to the ground, blue blood running out of the monster. Nick let his arm relax and stared at the thing, hoping it was over. After a few seconds he sighed and closed his eyes, hoping for this nightmare to end.

Crunching and sloshing brought his attention back to the dead spider, and he watched as it reanimated itself right before his eyes. He whimpered as it stood up and reared up yet again to display its fangs. he backed into a pillar and It lunged at him, a fang plunging right through his shirt, the other breaking off after trying to penetrate his suit jacket. He grabbed onto the chitin dagger and realized it had slipped between the buttons on his shirt, a fatal flaw in the armor. He felt short of breath as the creature pumped venom into one of his lungs, and he coughed out a mixture of it and blood.

He tried to push it away but to say it was an even match would be an exaggeration. It braced itself, putting its claws on his back and the pillar behind him, keeping its fang firmly planted in his chest. He was practically staring right into its eyes, and his wrist started to give, so he stopped pressing, and the spider shoved its fang further into him. The pain was intense, and he lost all hope.

Now all he had to do was to sit and wait to die. It was painful, and the venom made him feel like he had the flu, the horrible, itchy stuff, but he wasn't bleeding out. He was barely even breathing anymore, but he was still conscious. He started to realize that he wasn't going to die, but it didn't make things much better. It simply meant that he and the spider weren't going anywhere.

For eternity.

* * *

The demon in front of her vanished in a flash, and Judy looked around to find herself in her room, back home in the burrows. It was just like she remembered it, with her ZPD poster juxtaposed alongside childish girly things. She wondered if she had somehow actually been transported back home, and suddenly her mind was racing. _What about Nick? How do I explain how I got back into my room, in a suit?_ She thought. She opened her door and immediately realized that she was not home. The walls and carpet were the same, but horribly decrepit and stained, parts of the ceiling having fallen out.

She stepped out into the gloomy hallway and watched as rabbits walked back and forth between rooms. They all had matted, greasy fur, and their ears were ragged and torn. One of them walked out of her empty room and she backed away as it approached her. It had no face, just fur, and it turned to walk down the hallway. She took a couple breaths, trying not to panic. _I'm still in hell, none of this is real… I just have to get out._ She started walking down the long hallway, her burrow being more like a hotel than a home to accommodate the massive family.

She nearly had her eyes closed as she made her way to the main staircase, not wanting to experience the horror around her any more than necessary. She could still hear, with fantastic precision, all of the pawsteps around her, the movement of the carpet under the feet of the strange lagomorphic specters. She worked her way up the stairs to the main hall and went to the front door, hoping to escape. One look outside through the glass panes in the door was enough to destroy that hope. Outside looked just like it always did, but there were blood and bodies everywhere, nude foxes eating the remains of rabbits.

She shivered and stepped away from the door, turning to find a faceless rabbit behind her. She jumped out of the way, surprised, and watched as it opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind it. She didn't even bother to watch it get torn apart. She started walking to the kitchen, hoping that the back door could provide an escape. She entered to find a larger rabbit at the stove, stirring a large pot. It was her mother, or at least it was trying to be her mother.

"Mom?" She asked instinctively. She stopped stirring and Judy froze, terrified, not really wanting to know what would happen next.

"Yes, dear?" She said slowly. It sounded exactly like her mother.

"Huh… wha- what's going on?"

"You're his now Judy."

"What?" She asked. Her mother turned around to reveal another faceless rabbit, but tears of blood ran from where the eyes should have been.

"OH GAH-HAW-OD!" Judy screamed, instinctual fear washing over here. It was just like her mother, and it terrified her.

"You're his now!" Her imposter mother shouted, her smoothed over face moving as if it still had a mouth. The demon started approaching her.

"No!" Judy yelled back, starting to cry. She kept approaching, backing Judy into a corner. She slid down the wall, curling up into a ball on the floor, her mother looming over her. It was only then that she realized her own eyes were crying tears of blood.


	10. Phoenix

**We're nearing the end! The next chapter will be the last, and will include an epilogue. This chapter is short too, and the next probably will be as well.**

**Musical selection:**

**"I'm Alive"**

_**Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1** _

**Helloween**

**Be sure to _enjoy!_**

* * *

_Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest._

_Let no man be another's who can be his own._

* * *

Nick stood there, thinking, wondering how his life ever came to this, trapped in hell, impaled by the fang of a giant spider. _I don't deserve this,_ he thought. He may have spent much of his life as a con man, but he never laid a finger on another mammal. He got into the business because it was his only option. He quit it to become a police officer, to help mammals, because someone told him that he wasn't just a dirty fox, and he believed them. He had changed his life to repent for his sins, and yet he was being forced to suffer regardless.

_This isn't right,_ he thought.

The spider shifted slightly. He felt it grow weaker, and without losing a second he started to push again. The fang started to slowly pull out of him, and he pushed harder. _I took all this time and risk to save a mammal I never met, I'm the last one that deserves to be trapped here._ The spider finally gave, and he shoved it away, the arachnid landing on its legs and watching him. He started walking around it and it turned to track his movement, cautious of its newfound threat. He felt righteous, standing over the demon, realizing his power over it was in his will.

"So that's how this is, huh. it's all a big mind game to you… Too bad you tried it on the wrong fox." He said, continuing to slowly pace around the creature. It began to morph back into a demon, the tall black creature writhing under Nick's gaze.

"I'm going to save that girl, and my partner is coming with me whether you like it or not," he said. The demon was shaking terribly, screaming as it was conquered by the valiant fox. Nick walked up to it to deliver the final blow.

"You've got a lot of things goin for you buddy, but I'll wait till I'm judged worthy to take that kind of shit from you," he said. The demon evaporated into dust and the room around him started to shake, crumbling to pieces. He shielded his head and closed his eyes as rocks rained down.

When he opened his eyes he found himself in a wet, stifling hot tunnel of solid stone. It was dark, and at the end of the tunnel was a room lit by fire. He looked down at his wrist to see water vapor flowing from his suit, falling down to the floor and spreading like an eerie fog, the cooling system in overdrive. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something on the floor next to him, and he jerked away reflexively. He immediately realized it was Judy and knelt down next to the unconscious rabbit. He touched her shoulder and she rolled over to reveal bloody trails leading from her eyes.

"Oh no… Judy! Hey, Judy!" He said, shaking her, trying to wake her up. He could only imagine what the rabbit was going through in her head. "Come on, Fluff… you know you're better than this…"

In her nightmare, she was still huddled in a corner, the terrifying imposter of her mother standing over her silently. Nick must have gotten to her, because she suddenly realized what was wrong with the situation. _This isn't right… that girl is suffering somewhere and I'm trapped here, and neither of us deserve it,_ she thought. She opened her eyes and found that her tormentor had backed away from her. She stood up and looked at the creepy rabbit.

"You know I don't belong here, don't you," she said. The rabbit stood motionless, fear having been struck into its rotten heart. "You… you've got a lot of nerve, trying to keep good mammals in this place." She said, the demon vibrating and slowly melting into its true form.

"You don't like that, do you? When your subjects prove they're better than you, when they're not the ones who deserve to be here," she said, inching closer to the demon that slowly tried to keep its distance.

"You know there's an old saying; fool me once, shame on me. Try to fool me for all eternity, shame on _you!_ " She shouted. She woke up and gasped, a strange figure in her vision.

"Judy!" A voice said. She reached out and grabbed Nick. "Are you ok?" He asked, concerned. She took a few more deep breaths and started to come back to reality. "Fluff?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok… wow…" She said, Nick helping her up. The moisture and heat of the new environment was oppressive, but she could feel the chill of the suit through her fur. She watched, mesmerized, as the mist flowed out of the openings.

"You ready to go?" Nick asked, wanting to get moving before they ran out of energy. He didn't how much more time they needed, but he knew how much they had; twenty-three minutes and forty-seven seconds, and counting. He reloaded his gun, and Judy took the cue to do the same.

"We better keep moving," Judy said, feeling the same urgency. They walked to the end of the hallway, to the room lit by fires, and were stunned by what they found. In the middle of the room was a young white wolf in a torn-up gray shirt and black high-cut briefs, covered in blood. In front of her stood a deer in construction gear and in a cage hanging from the ceiling were the Blakesleys, roasting over a fire. The deer was punching Clare's muzzle with his hooves, the meaty slap of the impacts and the terrible clicking of her teeth smashing together resonating throughout the room.

"Hey!" Judy shouted, getting the attention of the deer. Clare looked at them, not very relieved by seeing the two, resigned to her fate and disturbed by the presence of more souls. The fox and rabbit were in black suits with black sunglasses, the rabbit bleeding from her eyes, the fox having a large bloodstain on his chest, the fur around his mouth matted with blood and fluid. They weren't exactly in prime condition, but they walked like they meant business. A strange white mist fell out of their wrists and ankles. The demon transformed into its terrible form, trying to intimidate them.

"Who invited you! This event was attendance by force only, not for weak little-"

"Oh shut up!" Nick yelled, walking ahead of Judy. She stood and watched with a smile on her face as he confronted the demon. It towered over him and looked down at him.

"How about something more your size," the demon said, transforming into a pure white arctic vixen, completely nude. She smiled and looked the fox up and down, the demon attempting to flirt to accieve its goals. She reached out to grab his tie, and he grabbed her paw.

"Nah-uh," he said, unimpressed with the demon's attempt to disarm him. He pulled out his gun and blew the thing's brains out, blood spraying out behind it. He let the body drop to the floor and planted a hindpaw on its chest. It was already transforming back to its original form, but he knew how to deal with it. "We know your games here, creep. Don't even think about getting back up," he said. It stunned Clare, she was completely lost for words. He walked over to her, Judy stepping up next to him.

"What? Who? How…?" She asked.

"Don't worry Clare, we're here to get you out of here," Judy said.

"Are you gonna take me to heaven? Are you angels?" She asked, hopeful. She didn't know that she was still alive.

"No, we're ZPD officers and A3I agents. We investigated the scene of your parent's death and discovered that you'd been taken to hell, and we came to bring you back to Zootopia," Nick said.

"...what?"

"You don't belong here Clare, you are still alive and you are a good mammal, you need to come home," Judy said.

"I… I'm alive? Wait, I get to go back and see my friends and, and?-"

"Yes," they both said, smiling. She stared, looking back and forth between the two, then fell to her knees, hugging the two comparatively tiny mammals.

"Oh my god… I can't believe this… tell me it's not just another trick," she said, embracing them.

"No Clare, don't worry. We _do_ lhave to get out of here though," Judy said.

"Why are you guys so hot?" She asked after getting up.

"Excuse me?"

"Like, you're even hotter than this place… and what's coming out of your suits?" She asked.

"Oh… uh, I don't know how much I should tell you, but our suits have cooling systems," Judy said. She looked at them, cocking her head, even more confused.

"We better get out of here," Nick said, not wanting to waste more time. Clare snapped out of it and nodded and the three started moving. There was only one place to go, the only exit to the room being the way they came in. They started walking and Clare stopped briefly, looking back at her parents. The two waited for her, and she took a deep breath. After all these years they had gotten what they deserved, but the moment was not without some internal conflict. She wasnt sure what she would say if she walked back, and decided it was because there was nothing to say. She turned and kept walking, the officers quickly following. The three continued walking through the dark tunnel, eventually reaching an area that looked familiar to the two officers.

It was the cave that lead them to the cobblestone dungeon, and they knew they were on the way back now. They kept walking through the cavern, Clare's version of hell similar to Nick's, though far, far larger. It was like walking through complete emptiness, and if it weren't for the other two with her she would feel utterly exposed and alone, like she had lost her pack. They reached the bridge again, Clare seeing a thousand-foot drop to a rocky bottom, bodies of other wolves laying across the rocks. She shivered, and after a brief moment of contemplation, they returned to the place they had all entered through, the black portal at the end of their path. They all stepped through.


	11. Victory

**Here it is! The last chapter. I'm considering this all as one chapter rather than a finale and an epilogue, but you can call it whatever you want. This was a fun story to write, but I can't wait to write a goofier one next. I already have some ideas, nothing concrete, but be on the lookout for another creepy case! Big thanks to 'usernamesweretaken' and 'Liar' for proofreading this chapter. I felt like after 9 days, y'all should get something polished as all get out!**

**Musical Selection:**

**"Heroes of Our Time"**

_**Ultra Beatdown** _

**Dragonforce**

**And now... _enjoy!_**

* * *

_ Et facta est lux. _

_ And there was light. _

* * *

The three emerged into the dark, dusty basement of the Blakesley estate. In front of them were Agents Vecher and Miller, who were preparing to go in themselves. Clare fell to her knees and was on her forepaws before she even had a chance to see them. The two officers to her side attempted to hold her up, but they were met with an intense fatigue.

"James, get a medevac," Tanya said, kneeling in front of the blood-covered trio, holding Clare's shoulders. Clare looked up at the sound of Tanya's voice and her eyes met those of the black-suited cat, the concerned look on the agent's face surprising her. Behind Tanya she saw James, the same concerned look on his muzzle as he held a phone to his ear. Over the railing to the stairs there was another feline, looking back at her with a worried expression. She looked at the officers next to her, holding her and trying to help her up.

Everything was in slow motion, but the world around her was more or less a blur. All she saw was a group of mammals that were willing to literally go to hell and back for her. Five mammals right before her eyes who would apparently do anything for someone they had never even met. After years of dealing with abusive, uncaring parents who felt that money and material goods were all a child would ever need, it was completely overwhelming. She sat herself up to hug Tanya and started crying tears of joy.

"It's ok... you'll be ok," Tanya said, unsure if she could console her. The leopard was caught off guard by the suddenness of the hug, and the canine was a bloody mess, but she had no trouble returning it, holding her close.

"Thank... you..." Clare said between sobs. "All of you... thank you" she whispered.

"It's what we're here for... we keep good mammals safe," she said, patting her back. They sat for a few minutes as Clare cried, Tanya letting the dog bury her muzzle in her neck. After a few minutes she had quieted down and Tanya decided it was time to stand up and start getting the three treated. "I hate to, like, break the whole hug thing, but we gotta be able to give you first aid," she said.

"No, it's ok... I'm not hurt," Clare said, letting go and sitting back on her haunches. Tanya lifted herself to one knee but stopped, confused, looking at the other two. _Like hell she's not hurt!_ She thought, hoping the officers could give her some answers.

"Yeah, whenever we got injured it just healed itself, we don't need a medevac," Nick confirmed. _Well, no wonder he's still alive... I was right; you can't die in hell,_ she thought.

"It's a military hospital, half of their resources are dedicated to mental health," Tanya said, immediately convincing the officers. Tanya stood up and helped the teenager off the floor.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," she said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out of this house... I need some clothes though," Clare said, realizing that, given the state of her shirt, she was practically naked. Her indecency didn't bother her much though, given the company she was in; they were all professionals, doing their job, and nobody was exactly eyeing her up. For once in her life, she trusted all of the mammals around her. As if to further solidify her feelings towards the group, Tanya immediately took off her jacket and gave it to the teenager.

"Here, take this for now," she said. Clare was surprised but accepted it nonetheless.

"Oh... thank you," she said, putting it on and buttoning it. "This is probably the weirdest outfit I've ever worn... panties and a suit jacket."

Her statement garnered a few chuckles.

"I'm sure you'd get a few fans with that style," Tanya joked.

"Yeah, but do I want any? I'd rather have as few mammals as possible see me like this. Not to mention the blood... can I go take a shower?"

"Well, we've got an ambulance on the way, so be ready to go to a hospital after you get out," James said. The five went up the stairs to meet agents Canan Adalet and Bruce Ortiz, another cat-ungulate duo, Ortiz being a moose. They all left the house and waited just outside the door while Clare took a shower. Judy and Nick sat on the front step while the four agents stood.

"Well, mission accomplished... kinda ruined this suit though," Nick said, looking down at himself. He was an absolute mess, blood all over his muzzle, neck, and chest.

"Oh it's not ruined, don't worry," James said.

"Really?" Nick asked, unconvinced, looking at his state of disarray.

"Pfft, yeah, you think we keep these things spotless all the time? We get messier than anybody," Ortiz confirmed.

"Yeah, I've trudged through my fair share of sewers in mine," Tanya added.

"Must have one hell of a laundromat," Judy said.

"Top secret actually," Adalet joked. They sat around silently for a moment, Tanya rolling a pebble around with her hindpaw. Judy suddenly came to a strange realization.

"Wait, weren't you two going to be on that case until Wednesday?" She asked Tanya.

"...huh? Yeah, we came back this morning..." She said.

"Woah... we were in there for four days?"

"Yeah... that's why we were going in, we thought you guys weren't gonna make it... we had your cruiser brought back to the A3I and informed the chief and everything... we were getting ready for a press release on what happened to you two..." Tanya said. Judy wanted to curl up into the fetal position, her mind flooded with emotions. She put her paws on her head and let out a deep breath as she moved her paws over her ears. Nick was speechless, staring off into space.

"Would you have told my family?" Judy asked, distraught.

"Well... we don't know. Probably your parents but... you've got a big family, we couldn't tell over three-hundred mammals about this..." she replied apologetically. Judy just let out an exasperated sigh, and Tanya sat on the step next to her, putting a paw around her.

"It's ok Judy... I know it's scary but it didn't happen, and as long as any of us have something to say about it, it's not going to, not any time soon. I guess the hardest thing about this job is knowing you'll never get recognition for it... even if you make the ultimate sacrifice. But that's what we do at the A3I; we do what nobody else can in order to keep everybody safe. Sometimes the only reward is knowing that, at the end of the day, you did the right thing. Nothing can ever take that away," Tanya said. The other agents nodded, feeling that Tanya had said what they all felt.

"I guess it's all part of the job," Judy said, feeling only slightly better. The front door then opened, Clare stepping out in an outfit that had her smiling; blue jeans, a deep red shirt, and Tanya's suit jacket.

"Well look at you," Judy said, the wolf's outfit somehow complimenting her pink and white fur.

"Can I keep it?" Clare joked, pulling on the coat lightly.

"Oooo... James, guys, what do you think?" Tanya said, actually considering it. Clare's eyes lit up at the thought.

"I mean... we are getting new ones soon..." Adalet said. James and Bruce looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Oh what the hell... just make sure it's legal to give her class five armor like that..." Agent Ortiz said. Clare's eyes bulged out, taking another look at the suit.

"Armor?"

"Yeah, that suit is bulletproof," Tanya said.

"Very bulletproof... I saw her get shot in the chest with a shotgun slug, that thing flattened it," Judy said.

"That's so cool... you know, this has been a pretty great turn of events aside from the whole torture thing," Clare said.

"Yeesh," Tanya said, only imagining what she meant by torture.

"Yeah, it wasn't a party in there in case you guys were wondering," Nick said.

"We could tell," Canan confirmed, the amount of blood on the three being quite the clue. A gigantic green truck then pulled up in the driveway, a large red cross on the side. It was an ambulance from a military hospital northwest of Zootopia, the go-to for the A3I when they needed injuries treated without questions being asked.

"Looks like your guys' ride is here. Should we take the cars back?" Canan said, the amur leopard pointing to her and Bruce's car with her tail, to Tanya and James' with her paw.

"Yeah, we'll ride with these three," Tanya said. Two jaguars got out of the large vehicle and immediately went up to the two officers. After a few questions confirming they were in relatively good health, they escorted them into the ambulance and got to work cleaning the blood off of them. Nick's paramedic took off his jacket and shirt, going to work getting his chest and neck cleaned up. Judy had her face scrubbed clean, and in minutes the two were free of stains. Tanya, Clare, and James got in and buckled themselves into the bench near the back. The large vehicle was set in motion, and they were on the way to the hospital.

"So, who exactly are you guys?" Clare asked.

"Special Agents Tatyana Vecher and James Miller, A3I," Tanya said, pointing to herself and James.

"We're ZPD officers who were given the ability to operate as A3I agents if the need arose. Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde," Judy said.

"Huh... so, like, is this your guys' job? Are you like the mammals-in-black from all those TV shows?"

"I mean, pretty much."

"Hah, that's pretty damn cool... you know I could keep saying thank you but I don't think it'll ever be enough... I can't imagine being trapped there forever," she said, looking at the floor.

"It's what we do," Judy said. Clare took a moment to think.

"You know what, I'm going to be in control of the company soon... I'll provide free services to the ZPD and A3I. You need anything built, let me know," she said.

"Woah... A3I projects are huge, That could be like millions of dollars, Clare," James said.

"We've got a lot of money saved. My parents were cruel for a reason; greed. I'd be able to build the ZPD and A3I headquarters multiple times with the money we have saved," she said.

"I mean, if you feel comfortable doing that..." Nick said.

"It's the least I could do. I'm going to fix all of the problems my parents created. No more firing injured workers, no more covering up incidents, no more cutting corners, no more beatings, and no more fucking murders," Clare said with absolute conviction.

* * *

Four days later, downtown Savannah Central.

* * *

The cart slowly plodded along, carrying the two top officers and high-profile A3I agents to the next row of meters. They didn't mind parking duty for once; after literally going to hell, they were ready for a few slow days.

"Does this thing have a radio?" Nick asked.

"What do you want to hear?"

"Anything but the motor on this thing."

"Be careful what you wish for," Judy said as she turned on the radio. The current station was playing Gazelle, as most other music stations were.

"I'm so sick of this song. See if you can find the news," Nick said. She turned the dial and heard the familiar voice of Fabienne Growley.

_"In light of the infamous Blakesley murder and kitnapping last week, we have Ms. Clarissa Blakesley with us today. Just last week Clarissa was kidnapped and her parents were killed in what was apparently a high profile hit carried out by an undisclosed rival company. Clare requested to join us today because she has a few things to say. Clare?"_

_"Thank you Fabienne," they heard Clare's voice come through. "I'm here because there are some things that people should know, and I would like to extend my gratitude to the A3I and ZPD. Firstly, my parents were not your friendly family business owners. They were corrupt, abusive, evil mammals, who finally got what was coming to them. Yes, I was caught in the crossfire, but I am not the one to pity, that sympathy belongs with the employees of the Blakesley Construction company, who for many years have dealt with the oppressive reign of generations of corrupt CEOs and owners._

_"Today I'd like to announce that once I have control of the company, things are going to change. Workers will be compensated if they are injured, they will not be fired if they cannot work. They will not be subject to threats for submitting incident reports, for using more expensive but safer and more effective techniques, for voicing concerns and complaints. They will not be beaten for misbehavior. They will not... they will not be killed for, for 'tarnishing the company name' anymore,"_ Clare rued, her voice catching.

_"Working for my company will be safer than it has ever been, it will be less stressful than it has ever been, and it will be more rewarding than it has ever been. In addition to these changes, I would also like to offer the ZPD and A3I services for absolutely no cost. The A3I and ZPD worked together to find me and save my life, and for that, I am eternally grateful. They went above and beyond the line of duty to rescue me, and they even offered me their home. Thank you,"_ Clare said.

_"Wow, what a statement. I am so sorry that you have been through so much Clare, and my condolences to the employees that have been wronged. I hope that Blakesley Construction becomes a leader in mammal resources under your direction,"_ Fabienne said.

_"Thank you,"_ Clare replied. The anchor then continued to interview her, the wolf sounding like she had done this for years, not nervous at all.

"What a story," Judy said.

"Yeah. She really has been through a lot."

"Sounds like she's gonna be pretty happy now."

"Ha! Yeah, millions of dollars and control of a huge company. Living with Tanya might be weird though..."

"Oh stop it. She might be a bit of a goofball sometimes but she seems responsible, not to mention smart."

"Those smart types can be difficult though, Fluff."

"Yeah, that's true," Judy said. Suddenly her ear flew up to attention.

"Heard something?"

"Yep, got a meter at ten o' clock," Judy said. Nick pulled the cart up to the offending space and proceeded to do the honors of ticketing the mammal. Judy then noticed that, on the opposite side of the street, a spot in front of a fire hydrant was taken up by a vehicle. She went over and started writing out a ticket for the vehicle, and the ticket device warned that this was the third violation. She radioed to Nick.

"Slick, we need to confront someone, gotta magic triple over here," she said.

"On the way," he said. Suddenly the door of the apartment complex in front of her flew open, a furious armadillo stomping out. Judy reached for her tranq gun but put her paw out in front of her, not drawing the weapon yet.

"You can't be serious!" He said.

"Alright, take a step back sir."

"How can you give me a ticket! I park here all the time!" He said. Nick walked up behind Judy as the confrontation began, the fox unfazed.

"Sir, please calm down," Nick said, the armadillo in front of him furious.

"I park here every damn day! My apartment is right there, you see that? See that window! My apartment!" He said, pointing.

"Sir, this is your third violation on record, if you really do park here every day, you should probably stop," Judy said. The armadillo huffed.

"What's this one gonna be for, huh? Another hundred-and-fifty? Bastards!"

"It's gonna be jail time and over a thousand if you don't settle down. This is your third offense, sir, I suggest you go back to your apartment, pay the ticket, and move your car," Nick commanded. The armadillo huffed and walked away. "Have a nice day!" Nick said.

"Go to hell!"

"HAH! You hear that Fluff!"

* * *

_ Acta est fabula, plaudite! _

_ The play has been performed, applaud! _


End file.
